Things Between People
by katemary77
Summary: A continuation of Complexities of the Heart, this follows Sirius and Anna through a brutal war against Voldemort and into the future. SiriusOC.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:**I don't own anything.

**A/N:**Well, here's the prologue as promised. It's quite short so I won't keep you waiting _too_ long for the first chapter. If you're reading this, make sure you've read Complexities of the Heart first, otherwise nothing will make much sense.And thank you, of course, to my wonderful beta MissBubbles, without whom this story would be riddled with silly, silly mistakes. Don't forget to review!

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart, this follows Sirius and Anna through a brutal war against Voldemort and into the future.

Things Between People

By katemary77

Prologue

_**For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come.**_

_**Hamlet,**_** William Shakespeare**

Sirius Black opened his eyes and felt he had not done so in an age.

There was grass underneath him and his fingers curled into the emerald green carpet. The scent of jasmine and the sound of birds around him alerted Sirius to the fact that he was in a garden. Then, there was the sound of footsteps.

_Wait, footsteps_?

Sirius rolled over with a groan and shielded his eyes from the bright sun. Sitting up, he lowered his hand hesitantly to gaze up into a face he had thought he would never see again.

"Hello, Padfoot."

"James?"

The tall, bespectacled man sat down in the grass beside Sirius and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up as he did so. Sirius near wept at the sight – indeed the wetness on his cheek proved he was crying.

"James," he said again and his best friend, his _brother_, nodded and pulled Sirius to him. He sobbed brokenly in the tight embrace for a long time before he managed to collect himself and looked around.

"Your mother's garden?"

James nodded. Dorris Potter had worked tirelessly in this garden, carefully cultivating each beautiful flower, and Lily had vigilantly continued the tradition when she had married James.

"Am I dead?"

"You shouldn't be." James paused and Sirius frowned, unsure on what his friend meant. "You're in between life and death, Sirius. You weren't supposed to die." He paused again here and Sirius could see from his face that James was torn between happiness and sorrow when he said, "They're sending you back."

Sirius' breath caught. How could he go back, how could he leave when he had just found what he had missed so much in life?

"I know," James said, reading the expression on Sirius' face. "But Harry needs you. _We_ need you to take care of him."

_Harry_. He remembered now. He had left them when they had needed him most. Harry, Remus… Anna. He had to go back.

"I'm sorry, James."

James stood and took Sirius' face in his hands. He stooped and kissed the other man's brow.

"I know."

He extended his hand and Sirius studied it intently.

"Time to go back, now, Padfoot old friend."

Placing his hand in James', Sirius Black was pulled, ragged and gasping, back into life.

* * *

**A/N:** Don't forget to review! 


	2. Buried

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. 

**A/N: **Wow sorry for the long wait between updates. I've had uni exams and alll sorts of things going on. I've also been having a bit of trouble with some upcoming chapters but I think that's all taken care of now, thanks to my brilliant beta MissBubbles. So, enjoy the chapter, I promise you'll get more soon. Don't forget to review and tell me you're still reading/what you thought.  
**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter One:

_**Home is a feeling I buried in you.**_

_**I'm alright, I'm alright,**_

_**It only hurts when I breathe**_

**-**_**Breathe**_**, Melissa Ethridge**

Anna Fair lay against the pillows on her bed, anxiously gnawing at her lips as she fought against the nausea she could feel rising in her stomach. It'd been like this for a few days now – _since before Sirius died_, her traitorous brain reminded her – and Anna wasn't sure what was wrong. Well, that was a lie. Anna had a pretty fair idea what was wrong. She knew she should go to Hogwarts, go to Poppy Pomfrey for confirmation, but Anna was absolutely terrified and she knew that Madame Pomfrey saying those words to her would make it all too real.

With a sudden twisting in her stomach, Anna gave it up and rushed to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. Once there, she collapsed by the toilet basin into which she heaved brokenly, amazed there was still enough food in her stomach to account for this. Her chestnut hair hung lankly around her face and stuck to her sweaty skin and with long pale fingers she feebly pushed it back.

In a moment though, she felt a soft tug at her scalp and her hair was gently swept away from her face, a cool cloth pressed to her forehead.

"Are you okay?" came the gentle voice of Remus Lupin.

Anna fought back tears and nodded.

"You've been sick for a while now, Ann," he continued, rubbing his hand across her back in soothing circles. "And you're not eating properly. Don't think I haven't noticed."

Without looking, she knew his brown eyes would be tired and worried. She felt terrible. Here was a man who had lost his last childhood friend, his best friend, his _brother_, and he was busy worrying about _her_.

With bitter acceptance, Anna uttered the words she had been avoiding since the day after Sirius had died; "Remus, would you… I need you to take me to Hogwarts. I have to see Madame Pomfrey."

_-------------------------_

Poppy Pomfrey was bustling around the Hogwarts Hospital Wing when Remus and Anna entered, having Flooed into the Headmasters Office. Anna was leaning tiredly against the unprotesting werewolf and when Madame Pomfrey saw them, she frowned at the dark circles under both Remus and Anna's eyes.

"Well, I've got you two down for a good dosage of Pepper-Up Potion and at least a few Sleeping Draughts, just at the look of you!"

"Actually, Poppy," Remus began as he guided Anna to a bed, "Anna's been throwing up recently and the bug doesn't seem to be going away."

Anna shook her head and looked at Madame Pomfrey.

"Actually… I don't think it's a bug," she said, casting a glance in Remus' direction. "Um… Poppy, I need you to perform the Conceptionus Spell."

Remus' eyes widened just as Madame Pomfrey hastened to close the privacy curtains around the bed upon which Anna was seated.

"Go for a walk, Remus dear!" she called through the curtains before turning to Anna with a very serious expression. "Well?"

"I should've had my period a week ago," Anna began, "But I haven't been eating properly… I thought it might've been stress, you know?" She pushed a shaking hand over her face. "We were careful, we always cast the charm, but I guess it only takes one wrong hand movement." She sighed, finally burying her face in her hands.

Poppy took Anna's hands and squeezed them in her own.

"Let us test first, dear, to be sure." Lifting her wand up, the matron muttered, "_Exigere Conceptionus_!"

A white light shot out of the wand and coalesced over Anna's abdomen. There was a moment in which it hovered unsteadily before forming a firm, warm blue light.

"Positive." Poppy looked at Anna, a strange mix of happiness and sorrow on her face. "He's healthy," Poppy told her, reading from the data that was spewing out of her wand, "Although you really do need to start eating properly, dear."

"When?" Anna asked, hardly believing this was real.

"January 22nd," Poppy replied.

There was a quiet cough from behind the curtains and Madame Pomfrey opened them to reveal Remus, who had returned and was standing hesitantly by the door.

It didn't seem like he could say anything. Anna couldn't either and so she settled for nodding weakly.

Remus rushed forward.

"You – you are?" he asked urgently. "You're pregnant."

"Yes," Anna murmured, "Yes. I'm going to have a son."

_-------------------------_

Poppy had been kind, giving Anna all kinds of information; pamphlets to help her figure out her options, spells and potions to keep her in comfort in the coming months and other handy magical tricks. Towards the end, though, Poppy was speaking more to Remus; Anna was mostly unresponsive, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of being pregnant.

"Come on Anna, let's go home."

Looking up at Remus, she realised she hadn't been paying attention.

"Sorry, Remus. We're going now?"

He nodded and she stood, following him back to Albus' empty office, sure that the Headmaster was still tied up at the Ministry.

"Grimmauld Place!" Remus yelled. The flames roared emerald and he motioned her in. "You first."

She nodded and stepped through into the silent, empty house, Remus following behind her.

"I – I guess we should cook dinner."

"I can get takeaway, Anna, or you can go up to bed if you're tired, though you should really eat something; Madam Pomfrey said you should be eating three solid meals a day – "

Anna put a hand on Remus' shoulder to stop his matronly spiel.

"I'm fine." _I'm numb_. "Will you cut up some chicken? I'll make a pasta sauce."

He looked at her uncertainly, as if searching for fault lines; cracks in her façade.

"Okay," he conceded. "How much chicken do you want?"

_-------------------------_

Later, after they'd eaten dinner, Anna sat curled on the couch, her chin on her knees and her hand wedged between her legs and her stomach, desperately trying to the imagine life inside. The numbness that had come with the shock of Poppy's confirmation had gone now and feeling was seeping slowly back into her body.

Anna had always wanted children. She had thought that after this war, if she emerged alive, she would find somebody to love and they would find themselves a home and start a family. Lately, in this vision of hers, Somebody had been Sirius. That was impossible now, she knew, and Anna had thought she was beginning to accept it. But now… now when she was having Sirius' child, it was like losing him all over again.

Anna's breath caught in her throat and a harsh sob tore from her. Her body was shaking with grief; her hands buried deep in her hair as she cried. And then Remus was there and he was pulling her legs across his lap so he could hold her better and her fingers were grasping onto his robes, grasping onto him as if he was her only lifeline. He was murmuring to her, telling her everything was going to be okay, but all she could think about was Sirius and how he wasn't there.

"I j-just can't imagine having Sirius' child without S-Sirius," she finally managed between hiccuping sobs, "H-how am I going to do this?"

"It's alright," Remus returned, "It's going to be alright, Ann. We're all going to take care of you, you're not going to be alone in this."

"I know," she said, finally calming some, "But he's not going to be here, is he?"

Remus shook his head.

"No, he's not," he breathed, "But you will be and your baby will be. And that has to be enough."

Anna leant against her friend – her eyes screwed shut against the harsh light of reality – and sobbed herself to sleep.

_-------------------------_

"Now that the Ministry has admitted that Voldemort has returned, we will be able to work much closer with them, rather than against them, and our members who work within the Ministry will no longer have to worry about being discovered."

Albus Dumbledore gazed around the room. The basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place was full but many faces were sombre, still mourning the loss of Sirius, who had been taken from them just a week ago.

"I have been reinstated in the Wizengamot and we have agreed that a new Minister is needed. A vote of no confidence will take place tomorrow and after that I hope a new minister can be elected. I am sure, however, that Voldemort will do his best to keep this from happening; an unstable community with a weak leader or no leader at all is just what he needs to wage war against us and win." A moment of tense silence followed. "I think that is all for today, does anybody have anything to add?"

There was silence for a moment before a clear voice called out: "What about Harry?"

Dumbledore looked at Anna for a long moment. She had almost not come down from her room today, but the memory of Harry's hesitant smile at platform 9 and ¾ had reaffirmed her resolve to get him to Grimmauld Place as soon as possible. Professor Dumbledore, studying her intently, seemed to see the stiffness of her shoulders; the fierceness in her eyes. He knew that arguing with her would be futile. Harry would be coming to Grimmauld Place, and soon too.

"I had thought previously that he would remain with his family but I realise now that probably is not a good idea. What do you think, Anna?"

"Remus and I will get him," she said. "We'll Apparate there and back."

"When?"

"Sunday morning," she replied, "He's been there a week too long already."

To her surprise – and the surprise of many Order members – Dumbledore conceded.

"That gives us three days to prepare. But I want you to take a guard with you," he insisted, "To survey the perimeter at least."

"Okay," she nodded. Professor Dumbledore nodded back. A stalemate had been reached.

_-------------------------_

"Anna!"

She was halfway up the stairs when her name was called. She crumpled slightly. Talking herself into going to the meeting had been hard enough, but memory of the promise she had made Harry had forced her downstairs into a seat. Once the meeting was over, however, and she had extracted the promise she needed from Dumbledore, all she wanted to do was curl up on her bed and forget everything.

She turned around. Severus Snape was at the foot of the stairs, making his way up to her. Without a word, she made her way up the rest of the stairs and into the living room. When Severus closed the door behind them, she turned to face him. There was no scowl or sneer on his face today.

"Oh, Anna," he said, moving towards and pulling her into his arms. "I'm so sorry."

She nodded against his chest but didn't cry. She had spent all her tears and was now in what seemed to be a constant state of numbness.

"I know – I know about the baby."

She stepped back, "How?"

"Madam Pomfrey asked me to prepare some nutrient potions for pregnant witches. None of the staff are of age or circumstance… it didn't take long to figure it out."

"Oh…" she had no idea what to say, what to think.

"I made this for you. Please consider your options, Anna." Severus slipped a vial of potion so dark it was almost black out of his pocket.

"A Terminating Tonic… Severus, I can't…" She made to hand back the potion but Severus gently pushed it back to her.

"Just think about it. Please. You know they're only good for twelve hours; it'll go off at midnight."

Anna nodded and put the potion into her pocket. She had a lot to think about.

_-------------------------_

There were eighteen minutes left until the clock struck twelve.

Anna was curled on her side, gazing at the black potion that rested innocently on her bedside table. She had no idea what to do. Could she really bring a child up? In a war? Alone in a society that looked down upon illegitimate children and single mothers? Could she really do this? Oh, she knew she had support. Remus, Severus, Bill, Hermione… But she was living in a war, a war that she might not even survive. The Prophecy that named Anna meant she would play a major part in the battle against Voldemort, for better or for worse. Should she bring a child into a life like that?

There were seven minutes left.

Anna picked up the potion from her nightstand and unstoppered it. Just as she brought it to her lips to drink, however, Sirius' face flashed through her mind and she wondered if her son would have his unfathomable grey eyes. The vial slipped from her fingers and smashed on the floor.

She didn't mind.

_-------------------------_

Harry Potter was in the kitchen, idly scrubbing the plates that his Aunt Petunia had given him to wash. They'd had a dinner party last night (with Harry tucked safely away in his bedroom, locks on the door and all) and Petunia had drunk a little too much wine to be concerned with cleaning up before bedding down for the night. Thus, Harry had a merry day of cleaning ahead of him, and it was only mid-morning. Well, at least the chores would keep him from dwelling on – _don't think about that!_ Harry reminded himself sharply. _You can't think about that_.

His morose musings were interrupted, howeverr, by the sound of two sharp_cracks_ out on Privet Drive. Alarmed, he slipped his wand from his pocket and crept to the window. There was no one there, but Harry wasn't fooled. While the sharp sounds of Apparition could've belonged to Order members doing their patrols, they were usually a little more stealthy about it, perhaps wanting to give Harry the illusion that he_wasn't_ being watched every second of the day.

There were footsteps, now, and the front gate was swinging open by itself.

Harry cursed. Where were the Order members? Didn't they see that Death Eaters were about to attack the house! Who else would be hiding under and Invisibility Cloak or Disillusionment Charms? Harry jumped when the doorbell buzzed, surprised that Death Eaters has the manners to ring _before_ breaking down the door.

"Coming, coming!" Vernon Dursley grumbled as he waddled down the hall. Harry edged out of the kitchen, wand at the ready, and plastered himself to the wall, out of view from the front door. He heard the sounds of the door being opened and then a familiar voice spoke.

"Hello. Is Harry in? We're here to take him away."

"_Boy_!" Vernon bellowed. "What have I told you about giving out _our_ address to those freakish friends of yours? Well, come here!"

Harry ventured into the hallway and looked toward the door. His heart skipped a beat. There on the threshold were Remus and Anna, looking a little worse for wear but greeting him with hesitant smiles.

"Hello, Harry," Anna said softly.

He raised his wand.

"How do I know it's really you?"

"BOY! Put that thing away!" Vernon screamed, advancing towards Harry with an angry glint in his eye, his face slowly turning puce.

"_Impedimenta!"_ Anna shouted, having whipped out her wand and pointed it at the beast. "How dare you speak to your nephew that way!" she said tightly, glaring daggers at the immobile man. Unless he was much mistaken, Uncle Vernon actually looked _guilty_. "Apologise, now."

He did. Harry gaped as Vernon muttered, "Sorry, Potter," and sounded like he actually meant it. He decided that on top of her spell, Anna must be using her empathic magic.

"Good," the woman said, "Now go into the living room with your family and don't disturb us again."

At this, Dursley looked like he wanted to protest but Anna gave her wand a very pointed wiggle and he shuffled off.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Remus said to him, a little bemusedly.

Anna turned and faced them again.

"Hello, Harry," she said again.

"I still don't know it's really you," the young Gryffindor pressed.

"Your Patronus is a stag."

Harry looked evenly at Remus and said, "Lot's of people know that, now. I cast the Patronus Charm for my OWLs."

"Hermione calls me Lizzy in letters," Anna answered, "I call her Darcy. And we watched the BBC miniseries of _Pride and Prejudice_. You'd seen it, too, and while you tried to pass it off as being forced to watch it by your aunt, you were secretly jumping for joy when they got together at the end."

Harry's mouth quirked upward. He doubted, or rather _hoped_, that no Death Eaters knew _that_.

"Remus?" Anna asked.

The weary looking werewolf only had to say one thing; "Pronglet."

Harry swallowed and nodded.

"Um, I need to pack; I didn't realise you were coming."

"Sure," Remus said, "I'll have to speak to the Dursleys."

"I'll come up with you then, Harry?" questioned Anna.

The boy nodded and they headed up to his room.

"Well, this is – er…"

He grinned a little.

"Sorry about the mess."

She smiled and took out her wand. With a wave, his clothes had soared out of the bureau and folded themselves neatly into his trunk. Harry tore open the floorboard under his bed and emptied it before whistling out the window for Hedwig. She came quickly but before he could settle her into her cage Anna raised a hand.

"It might be better for her to fly to Headquarters," she said, "We're Apparating and that's not very good for pets."

"Okay." He whispered to the snowy owl, stroked her beak and watched her fly out the window.

"Well, that's it then." He turned and faced Anna and she reached out slowly and placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently before letting go.

"It's good to see you, Harry."

He nodded, eyes downcast.

"You too, Anna."

She waved her wand and Levitated his things downstairs, where Remus was waiting, grim faced after his encounter with the Dursleys.

"Ready to go?"

They nodded.

"We'll Apparate from in here," Remus said. "I don't fancy trying to get the three of us under Moody's Cloak. Harry, just take my arm, hold on tight and don't let go. Have you ever Side-Along Apparated before?"

He shook his head.

"Alright, well, it'll feel a little weird but it only lasts for a moment. Just don't let go, okay?"

Harry nodded and grasped Remus' forearm, holding Hedwig's cage in his other hand. Anna took hold of his trunk, waved her wand and with a pop, she was gone.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

Remus seemed to turn away but he held on tight and it felt as if the air was pushing against him; there was nothing left to breathe, it was tight, tight, tight. He felt bile rising in his throat and then he was outside Grimmauld Place, blinking in the sun.

"Are you alright? Apparition can be nasty the first couple of tries."

"No kidding," Harry joked, taking in deep breaths of air.

"Come on, we should get off the street."

He followed Anna and Remus up the front steps and into Grimmauld Place. It was as dank and dreary as he remembered; perhaps even more so. Standing in the front hall, Harry awaited the onslaught of memories that accompanied this place. It came, and it hurt, but with Remus and Anna standing either side of him, he felt he could weather the pain.

It wasn't home, (where was home, for him?), but he was with people who cared for him and that, Harry reflected, was enough.

* * *

**Review!**


	3. Breathe

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. 

**A/N:** Hello again! Thanks to everyone who continues to review. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to tell me what you thought. Thanks as always to my beta reader, MissBubbles.

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Two: 

_**When you're dreaming with a broken heart  
Then waking up is the hardest part  
You roll out of bed and down on your knees  
And for a moment you can hardly breathe  
Wondering was she really here?  
Is she standing in my room?  
No she's not, because she's gone, gone, gone. **_

**- **_**Dreaming with a Broken Heart**_**, John Mayer**

"Harry, time to wake up."

"Mmmf. Five more minutes, please Aunt Petunia?" he mumbled into his pillow.

A soft laugh and then, "Well, I never! I think I might even be insulted!"

Harry opened one eye blearily. Anna was standing above him, her hands on her hips.

"Up, up!" she said, much too cheerily for so early in the morning. "It's already eleven o'clock!"

Well, maybe not so early then.

Harry sat up and grabbed his glasses from his nightstand. Once he could see clearly, he looked at his watch.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in so long."

"Don't worry about it. Come on, I'm making breakfast," she said, ushering him out of the room and downstairs, "Pancakes! Now, do you want choc chips or raspberries in them?"

"Um… choc chips?"

Anna grinned.

"I was hoping you would say that."

They reached the kitchen and entered to find Remus was sitting at the table, reading the _Daily Prophet_. He raised his tea cup in greeting.

Harry wandered over to the table and fixed himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Can I give you a hand, Anna?"

She looked up from her recipe book.

"Sure, Harry. You can be my kitchen boy. Could you grab two eggs, milk and butter from the cooler?"

He nodded and crossed to the pantry. This particular one had Refreshing and Cooling Charms on it, so it was just like a Muggle refrigerator. Not long after, a plate of hot, golden pancakes was floating over to the table and the three of them were tucking into their meal.

Afterwards, once Anna had Banished their dishes to the sink, she looked evenly at Harry.

"I was wondering, Harry, if I could teach you Occlumency?"

Harry looked up sharply. Remus, too, was gazing at Anna curiously.

"You're an Occlumens?" Harry asked.

She nodded.

"I couldn't teach you before because I couldn't come to Hogwarts regularly; not with Umbridge around. Professor Dumbledore thought it might be too dangerous for me to teach you as well, as it would be if he had taught you, but Voldemort knows I was at the Ministry so secrecy where I'm concerned has become less important."

"Voldemort wasn't supposed to know about you?"

"He would've found out eventually, Harry," she answered, "So it's nothing for you to worry about. So what do you say? I promise I'm a kinder taskmaster than Professor Snape."

"That wouldn't be too difficult," Harry muttered and she grinned.

"I'll take that as a yes. Why don't you get changed into something comfortable and meet me in the living room on the third floor."

Harry nodded, somewhat excited at getting to learn Occlumency from someone he was sure would be a better teacher than Snape. Bounding up to his room, he quickly threw on a soft pair of cotton pants and a t-shirt, before racing up the next flight of stairs once he was dressed.

Anna was standing in the centre of the room, directing the furniture into one corner with her wand. He cleared his throat and she turned to him.

"Okay, Harry. What did Professor Snape teach you?"

"Um, nothing really. He just shouted at me to clear my mind and then attacked."

She frowned.

"Okay, well, I'll start by actually teaching you _how_ to clear your mind. Lie down on the floor and make sure you're comfortable. Have you ever meditated before, Harry?"

"No," he answered, lying down on his back with a pillow from the sofa under his head.

"Meditating can be quite difficult for some people but if you can't quite manage it I can help you until you can make it on your own. I want you to close your eyes." He did. He could feel her moving around him and then sitting down, a few metres away. She spoke again but this time her voice was low and soothing and sounded as if maybe she was inside his head, not next to him in the room. "I want you to focus on the sound of my voice. Nothing else, Harry. Let all your thoughts slide past you into nothingness. Nothing matters, you're at complete peace. Relax your mind and your body… feel tension leak away from your limbs, from the tips of your toes to your fingers. Leave everything behind."

Feeling a little bit silly, he tried to do what Anna's voice commanded.

"Nothing matters… Focus on your breathing, Harry. Take a deep breath in through your nose and back out. Long, slow, comfortable breaths. In… out… in out… Good, Harry, focus on your breathing. Nothing else matters, just in… out…"

Despite himself, Harry felt more and more relaxed with each breath he took. Everything else was gone, disappeared into the back of his mind, all that mattered was his breathing and what Anna would say next.

"Your limbs feel heavy… heavy like lead. Your body is relaxed and weighed down completely… focus on your breathing… in… out… in… out… just keep breathing, Harry."

Her voice was quite for a long while, but Harry didn't mind. He felt completely at ease.

Eventually, she spoke again; "Harry, I want you to imagine you're somewhere... It doesn't matter where, but some place you feel comfortable, safe, at peace. A beach, a forest, a room… it doesn't matter. Take some time to find your place, Harry… just somewhere that feels _right_."

He thought of Hogwarts first, the lake, the turrets in the distance, Hagrid's chimney smoking, but he didn't feel safe there. Next he thought of a beach and then a desert, but neither of them felt right either. Finally, Harry decided on a garden. It was familiar, somehow, and he felt completely at peace.

"A garden…" Anna said, and later he would wonder how she'd known. "Try and imagine all the details of your garden, Harry. Can you smell the jasmine? What other flowers are there? What does the grass feel like under your palm? Imagine all of it, Harry… the blueness of the sky, the birds singing in the trees… can you see it all? Let the feeling of peace flood you, Harry… You feel heavy, safe, comfortable. Let it seep through you…"

She was silent again for a time but soon began to speak; "I want to start wiggling your toes, Harry. And now your fingers. They're getting lighter and lighter. Wiggle your legs… your arms… slowly, now… everything's getting much lighter… okay, open your eyes Harry."

Blearily, he opened his eyes, stretched out and sat, looking over to Anna.

"What was that?"

"That place you went to, the garden, that's your happy place, Harry. It's the centre of your mind. Whenever you feel angry or sad or out of control, go back to that place and it'll help to soothe you."

He raised a sceptical brow; "But it took me forever to get there."

Anna nodded.

"It will, for a while. Every night when you go to sleep I want you to clear your thoughts, practise your breathing like we did today and retreat back to that place, okay? And we'll do it every day in here, too. Eventually, you'll be able to go there instantly."

"Really?"

She nodded again.

"And then, once you can do that, we'll start to organise your mind."

"How do you mean?"

She frowned and a little crease marked the centre of her forehead.

"It's hard to explain, Harry, but we'll start building walls up around your centre, to keep a Legilimens out. We'll start small, just with one wall guarding all of your memories; we'll fortify it, make it as strong as we can and then move on. I'll lend you a book about different methods of defence of the mind. Some of it can get quite complex."

"How come Snape never told me any of this?" Harry asked, annoyed.

"There are different types of Occlumency, Harry, and different ways of teaching it. He chose a different way."

"A stupid way," Harry muttered under his breath and Anna laughed.

"Maybe so, Harry. But would you have trusted him to take you through a meditation like we just did?"

He imagined lying on the cold stone floor of the dungeons, Snape prowling around him, and shuddered.

"Merlin, no."

As they stood to leave the room, Anna stopped him by touching his arm.

"I'm not sure if you want to hear it, Harry, but if you ever need to talk and you don't feel like you can to Ron and Hermione, Remus and I will always be around to listen."

Harry nodded.

"I'll think about it."

_**-------------------------**_

"How do you think Harry is?"

Anna sighed and sat down next to Remus on the couch.

"Same as all of us really; I think he's holding up okay."

"Are you?" he asked her with a significant look to her belly.

"Are you?" she shot back and Remus sighed.

"I guess. I lost him once. I thought he'd betrayed me, killed Lily and James. It ripped my heart out. But at least I could hate him then; it seems so much worse now."

She scooted over to him and rested her head on his shoulder, taking his hand and squeezing.

"You have all of us, now," she said. "You're not alone this time."

"Neither are you."

"Hey." They both looked up as Harry entered the room and plopped down on the floor in front of the couch. "What movie are we watching tonight?"

"You pick," Remus answered, "They're over there."

Harry nodded and went over to the stack of videos, rifling through them.

"What about _Forrest Gump_? If I had a sickle for every time I've heard, 'Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get'…"

Remus and Anna laughed at his appalling southern American drawl.

"Put it on, then."

A couple of hours later, Anna was _crying_. It was the saddest thing she'd ever seen. They'd had to pause it a few times so that Harry could hurriedly explain some of the Muggle references – the Muggle army, the Vietnam War and the protests and more – but that hadn't dulled their enjoyment of the film. Anna nudged Harry.

"Did you like it?"

He turned and she saw his eyes were a little wet too. So were Remus'.

"Yeah, it was brilliant."

"And on that note, I think its bedtime."

Anna rolled her eyes at Remus.

"Yes, Professor Lupin!" Anna pulled Harry up by his arm and walked with him to his room. "Now, don't forget to do your exercises. It may seem silly or difficult but we can't begin Occluding your mind until you can reach the garden instantly. Remember, deep breaths, you feel heavy, no thoughts and imagine every detail. It doesn't matter if you fall asleep after a while. Okay?"

"Okay," Harry nodded, "Goodnight, Ann."

"Goodnight, Harry."

She continued walking on until she reached her room, the one she had shared with Sirius, and deflated. It was a delicate balancing act she was playing. It still smelt a little like him; his cologne was still laced in the bed sheets, though she had washed them, and she hadn't yet been able to go through his clothes.

Moving over to the dresser, Anna took out of the drawer a pale green potion. She downed it swiftly, grimacing at the sickly sweetness of the taste. It was a Pregnancy Potion, filled with nutrients for both mother and baby, and every time she drank it she accepted a little bit more the situation she found herself in. She was having Sirius' child. She knew she had to tell Harry. Apart from Remus, Severus and Poppy Pomfrey, no one knew, although she suspected Albus did, and Anna knew the next person to know should be Harry. But how could she possibly bring this up?

With a feeling of loneliness creeping up around her, Anna walked over to a dark wooded bureau of drawers and pulled one open, taking out a soft blue shirt much too large for her. Pulling it on, she curled onto one side of the bed and shut her eyes. With Sirius' shirt on and the scent of him all around her, it was almost like he was there with her. And if she imagined the weight of his arm just there on her waist and the warmth of his breath just there on her neck, maybe she could imagine him back into life.

_**-------------------------**_

It was mid-afternoon and Harry had just finished the homework Professor Flitwick had set for the summer holidays. _Hermione would be so proud_, he thought to himself and grimaced a little at the thought of his friends. He'd been keeping in contact with both Hermione and Ron but found himself surprised; when Remus and Anna had come to take him from Privet Drive, he had thought the emptiness of Grimmauld Place, the lack of Ron, Hermione, even Ginny and the twins, would make him sad, lonely and longing for their presence. Instead, he found himself enjoying solitude, enjoying quiet nights with Remus and Anna. It wasn't that he didn't love his friends – he did, more than anything – but there were some things they just couldn't understand.

Hermione and Ron had whole families; had enjoyed mostly comfortable and peaceful lives (at least until recently) and had never really suffered the kind of pain Harry had been living with since he was a small child. They hadn't lost their parents before they even got to know them, they hadn't lived eleven long and lonely years with people who despised their very existence. Harry loved his friends but there were some things about him they could never understand and, honestly, he didn't want them to. Remus and Anna, however, seemed to know exactly how he was feeling, what was going through his mind and didn't have to ask.

Harry sighed and continued to wander aimlessly around Grimmauld Place, finally setting his course downstairs, where he knew Remus would be mulling over a book with a cup of tea and Anna, from the scent drifting through the musty house, would be baking something new. Cupcakes, he remembered her mentioning earlier. She'd been doing that a lot lately; cooking. Pancakes or French toast or maybe a full English breakfast was served every morning and for dinner she cooked up some fantastic meal that rivalled even Mrs. Weasley's dinners. He supposed that perhaps this was her way of dealing with things, keeping busy, keeping her hands and mind occupied. He couldn't find fault with it; Harry had been employing the same strategy, which was why more than half his summer homework was sitting completed on the desk in his room.

He was in the foyer now and his mind was far too occupied to notice he was heading straight for the troll-leg umbrella stand, which Tonks never failed to knock over. He collided with it, sending it sprawling to the floor and knocking umbrellas every which way. Mrs. Black's curtains flew open and her rotting mouth snarled as she began screaming obscenities at him.

"_BLOOD TRAITOR_!" she bellowed. "_HOW DARE YOU SHAME MY HOUSE AND THE NAME OF MY FOREFATHERS! DISGUSTING BOY! JUST LIKE THAT NO-GOOD, USELESS SON OF MINE! SHOULD'VE SMOTHERED HIM AT BIRTH! SHOULD'VE REALISED HE'D NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING_!"

Harry saw red. In the back of his mind, he heard Anna and Remus hurrying up the steps from the kitchen, but all he could see was this horrible woman, this horrible, disgusting woman who had never shown love to her son, who hadn't even mourned when Remus had told her that Sirius was dead. She had laughed, instead.

"Shut up," he growled, closing his eyes tightly and balling his fists at his side. "Shut up."

The ghastly woman cackled.

"NO WONDER HE DIED SUCH A DISHONOURABLE DEATH! I'M GLAD HE'S DEAD, THAT TRAITOROUS FAILURE! HE WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT FROM THE MOMENT HE WAS BORN TO THE MOMENT HE DIED!"

"SHUT UP!" Harry screamed, his eyes squeezed shut, and something inside him snapped. He felt a scorching burst of energy shoot from him towards the portrait of Mrs. Black, who screamed and clung to her once-gilt frame. There was an explosion of noise.

"Harry!"

He opened his eyes. Anna and Remus were standing at the entrance to the foyer, mouths open in shock. There was swirling energy around him, the paintings along all the walls were rattling and shaking. Where Mrs. Black used to hang there was a gaping hole. He felt horror build up inside him and as it did, so did anger and white-hot rage. He felt it in his fingertips and behind his eyes as he looked at the damage his magic had wrecked.

"Harry!" Anna shouted again. "You need to calm down." She was coming towards him, pushing against his magic. She was in front of him now, grasping tightly to his shoulders and looking into his eyes. "Harry, calm down before you hurt someone. Pull it back in, go to your garden, Harry, can you see it?"

He wanted to burn everything down, he wanted it to end, he wanted to unleash everything in him and lash out at the world. But he didn't. Slowly, slowly, he reigned it in, pulled back toward him everything that had come bursting out.

"Good boy," Anna murmured, still latched on to him, her anchor in the maelstrom he had let loose. "Its okay, Harry." She stepped back. They looked around. The paintings hanging in the foyer and down the hall were tilted, if not fallen off the wall completely. Anything that had been standing up previously was now knocked to the ground, scattered over the hardwood floor. Harry was panting hard. His hands were clammy. He looked at them. They were completely normal, no sign of the raw magic that had coursed through him only moments before.

"Shit," he murmured. He looked at Anna, who was gazing at him worriedly, her bottom lip between her teeth and Remus who was hovering behind. "I don't – I'm not…" Harry shook his head back from his forehead. "I'll be upstairs."

And, in a haze, he stumbled back up to his room and collapsed on the bed.

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading! Hope you had a Merry Christmas and enjoy the New Year! Review! 


	4. Little Stars

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. 

**A/N:** Sorry this has taken so long. I've had the chapters sitting around but FFnet has been bugging and I've only just figured out how to fix it. Anyway, I hope I haven't lost too many readers, drop me a review and let me know you still like it :)

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Three: 

_**Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die  
Take him and cut him out in little stars,  
And he will make the face of heaven so fine  
That all the world will be in love with night  
And pay no worship to the garish sun.**_

**- **_**Romeo and Juliet, **_**Shakespeare **

Anna was humming softly to herself as she moved down to the kitchen to get dinner ready, her fingers moving deftly through her long hair, twining it into a loose braid.

Her movements stilled when she entered the basement.

Remus was kneeling on the floor, a jug of milk spilled and broken beside him. He was staring at the mess, hands unmoving on his lap. Anna's mouth slipped into a frown at the sight and she knelt beside him, moving her wand to wipe up the spillage.

"I dropped it," he said quietly, "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter."

Taking him by the arms, she helped him stand and he moved over to a seat.

"It was a month ago today."

"I know," Anna replied. She'd known it since she woke up that morning and had been fighting desperately to think of anything else.

"I hate being here," Remus continued, "Sirius hated this house; it feels wrong to grieve him here, wrong to remember him here."

Tapping the milk jug with her wand, Anna placed the repaired item on the kitchen bench and sighed.

"I think this place is driving us all crazy; the three of us. I wish we could get away."

She heard Remus' chair scrape across the stone floor and turned. He had stood up and was looking at her with a small glint in his eyes.

"Maybe we can."

_**-------------------------**_

"You've got everything you need, Harry?"

Harry nodded and shuffled over to the fireplace, a bag slung over his shoulder. It was a week since Harry had lost control and blown up the portrait of Mrs. Black. Since then, Anna had been pushing him harder and harder with his Occlumency training and it was paying off. He could now reach the centre of his mind instantly and he and Anna had begun to build a defence around it. "Visualisation!" she shouted at least twice in every lesson, in a manner not unlike Mad-Eye Moody, and his visuals were becoming more and more defined and detailed.

"I've told you the address?"

Harry resisted rolling his eyes sidelong at Remus and replied; "About ten times, Anna."

She smirked and ruffled up his hair. Harry was beginning to get used to the gesture.

"I'll go first and make sure the cottage is clear, you follow after, okay? And Remus will come last."

He nodded and she turned to the fire. With a toss of Floo powder the flames roared a brilliant green. She shouted over the noise, stepped in and whirled away. After Harry had destroyed Mrs. Black, Anna and Remus had come to him with an idea.

"Being stuck here is getting to the three of us," Remus had begun quietly. "Last night Anna and I owled Professor Dumbledore and he got back to us today. We're going to organise for us to go and stay in Anna's cottage in Wales for a day or two. Albus and I will go over in the next couple of days and set up some defences – alarms, wards, that kind of thing. What do you think?"

Harry had nodded slowly. He knew what this was. Harry needed to talk to someone about what was happening, what had already happened, and they were giving him an opportunity to do so. He knew that he should take it. Since Remus had first taught Harry how to summon a Patronus in his third year, Harry had trusted the older man and in the last year, this trust had solidified. As far as Anna was concerned, he wasn't sure if it was her Empathy or just her personality, but there was something about Anna that made her easy to talk to. It had taken a while, but Harry had become comfortable, perhaps even attached, to her presence. He knew that soon Anna would start penetrating his mind, rifling through his memories, and the thought didn't worry him as much as it once might have. After spending almost a fortnight with both she and Remus, Harry had grown closer to the two of them. Perhaps it was their grief over the loss of Sirius that had united them, he thought with a sad smile, hiking his bag further onto his shoulder and stepping into the emerald flames. He shouted out the address of Anna's place and soon found himself stepping into a small, homey cottage.

They were in a living room. Anna was standing by a bookcase with her wand and looked over to Harry when he came tumbling out of the fireplace.

"It's been a while since anyone's been inside," she said, "There's a fine coat of dust over everything. Including you," Anna finished with a grin, noting the layer of soot covering Harry's skin and clothes. "I'll just include you in the spell, then."

With a wave of her wand and some chanted words, the place was gleaming. Then Remus came stumbling out of the fireplace, a cloud of ash following him. Grinning at Anna's pout, he took out his own wand and cleaned it up.

"Take a look around, you two," Anna said, "Make yourselves at home. I'm going to put the food I brought into the kitchen. I suppose you're both going to be gentlemen and insist I take the bed?"

"But of course," Remus said with a silly bow.

Anna nodded and said; "Just put your bags beside the couches then," before disappearing into what he presumed was the kitchen.

Harry did as he was told and dumped his overnight bag on the floor, before deciding to take Anna up on her offer of having a look around. The cottage was small, but then he supposed it was only Anna living here, with only one bathroom and one bedroom. Peeking outside, Harry decided that the smallness of the cottage was well made up for in the yard. It appeared that they were in the middle of a Welsh forest and Anna's garden was sprawling. A wooden veranda at the back of the house looked over the slightly tamed wilderness. The living room was also spacious, with room for a couple of couches, an armchair and some bookcases for Anna's multitude of novels. He saw there were some gaps in the rows of hardbacks and figured Anna must've taken some with her to Grimmauld Place. Other than that, though, it appeared she had left in a rush. Her bed was crumpled, a crochet throw was haphazardly stuffed into a corner of the couch and there was a half full glass of water resting on the basin in the bathroom.

Thorough assessment over, Harry turned to the kitchen where Anna was now making a pot of tea.

"This is a nice place," he said, sitting next to Remus at the counter.

"Thanks," she replied.

"How long have you lived here for? Apart from this last year, of course."

She turned around now and passed them both a cup of tea, gazing shrewdly at Harry for a moment. He wondered if she was deciding how much to tell him.

"Dumbledore moved me out here five years ago. Around the end of your first year at Hogwarts."

What was the significance of that? he mused. What happened at the end of his first year?

_Voldemort came back_, Harry's mind answered a moment later.

"You had to go into hiding."

"So did a lot of people, Harry."

Harry realised he had never really thought about the consequences of Voldemort re-emerging at Hogwarts that year. Considering the extreme climate of fear abounding throughout the Wizarding World now, it didn't surprise him that some must've fled even then.

"Why?" was his next question.

Anna sighed and took a sip of her tea, gazing at Remus askance before looking back up at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Harry, there are some people that Voldemort would stop at nothing to find and capture. Some for recruitment, some for execution, some for imprisonment... Most of these people have been running from him for decades, some go so far as to hide themselves from the rest of the world. Well, our world at least. When you stopped Voldemort from getting the philosopher's stone in your first year, Dumbledore contacted many of these people and the brief break they'd had from living in hiding ended."

"And you're one of those people."

"Yes."

"And I guess, so am I."

_**-------------------------**_

Later on, Harry was sitting out on the veranda, watching the sun go down over the forest. He could hear Anna and Remus in the kitchen, talking softly as they washed up after dinner. He had offered to help but Anna had simply handed him a blanket and shooed him onto the porch. He had the blanket wrapped around him now; even though it was summer it was rather cool here, and it was more of a comfort thing than anything else, anyway.

Shortly, Anna and Remus joined him, sitting on either side of him on the bench. Neither of them spoke, patiently watching stars come out across the sky.

"I miss him," Harry said after a while. "I really miss him."

"He was someone outside of Hogwarts that honestly and truly cared about what happens to you, Harry. You've never had that before. Missing Sirius is the most natural thing in the world," Remus replied.

"But I only had him for such a short time," Harry countered, "How is it that I can miss him so much when I only knew him for so little? I don't know if I can do this without him, I can't do it alone." He was unashamed to hear the crack in his voice and the sudden wetness on his cheeks.

Remus moved closer and tentatively touched Harry's arm, laying his hand on top of it and giving a squeeze.

"You don't have to do anything alone," Anna said. "I don't think you'll ever have to, Harry." She paused for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts. "I have the gift of knowing what people around me are feeling, Harry," she said after a moment. "And with it I've realised that _you_ have the gift of inspiring love and admiration in everyone around you. There will always be someone there; you'll never be alone. It was the first thing I noticed when I met you. There was a change in the air, or something, everyone seemed to be screaming, _Harry's here_!"

"You're an amazing person, Harry," Remus finished, "And I truly believe – _Sirius_ truly believed – that you can do this."

Hearing this, resolution coursed through his bones. Harry nodded and wiped his cheeks.

"I know," he said, voice still slightly broken. "I know. Sometimes I just get scared. Do you ever get scared?"

"I'm a werewolf, Harry," Remus answered simply, "Fear that I'm going to hurt someone is something I've had to live with since I was bitten."

They were quiet for a moment, contemplating, but then Anna stood and pulled both Harry and Remus up with her.

"I need to show you both something. Come with me."

She directed them into the living room and crouched down on the floor in front of the fireplace. There was a dark red rug covering the floor boards and she pulled it up, taking her wand out of her pocket as she did. Pointing it at one of the floor boards, she murmured a few words in Latin that Harry wasn't quick enough to decipher and the wood shivered for a moment before disappearing entirely. Anna reached a hand into the dark hole and pulled out, of all things, an old, thick book.

Sitting back on the couch between the two men, Anna ran her hands over the blank cover of the book.

"This is the diary of Sophia Baccaro. Her sister Eliana was a Seer, around two centuries ago. Sarah recorded a lot of Emily's predictions in here. Many of the prophecies concerned a wizard that Eliana called 'ragazzo di serpente' – child of the snake."

"Voldemort," Harry murmured.

Anna nodded and turned to a page towards the end of the book. The page was unmarked and unnumbered and Harry supposed she had turned to this page many times, to need neither aids.

Harry had learnt much Latin during his schooling at Hogwarts, but except for a few words, Italian was still a very foreign language and so the passage Anna traced with her fingers was undiscernible. Beside it, however, in penmanship he recognised as Anna's, was an English translation of the words:

'_Hope fades_

_And the world lies in shadows_

_The Dark Lord prevails_

_And the light of the phoenix is gone. _

_Born as the seventh month dies_

_There is one who will triumph_

_And stop the tide of evil_

_The song of the phoenix will be heard again._

_None can stand before him_

_The Dark Lord himself will break_

_A child, born with a power_

_That the Dark Lord knows not. _

_There is but one who can resist him. _

_Born of evil and empathy,_

_If by heart she chooses Dark_

_All shall turn to night.' _

"Yes," Anna said very quietly, "Sometimes I get very scared."

"This… this is you?"

She nodded.

"It is. But I made my choice a long time ago and that's never going to change."

Remus' face was inscrutable, but looking at Anna, Harry knew she was telling the truth; there was no doubt. He fancied that he was at least decent at reading people and Anna tended to display every emotion she was feeling in her expression anyway.

"Did Sirius know?"

Anna seemed to sag with relief, understanding that this was Harry accepting her. She looked at Remus, who hadn't spoken, but he smiled in such a reassuring way that he didn't have to.

"Sirius knew. A week after he stumbled into my cottage Lucius Malfoy found me here; I told Sirius everything then. That's why I had to leave."

Harry remembered when Hermione had come to him with her theory – of Anna's mother being imprisoned and raped by Death Eaters – and something clicked.

"Malfoy, he's you're father, isn't he?"

"Merlin, no!" Anna exclaimed, alarmed. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I though something was off," Harry admitted, "I asked Hermione to look into it. She figured it all out, Anna, its okay. You're mother was imprisoned – we had thought because Voldemort wanted to use her magic, but now I see it was because of the prophecy – and raped by Death Eaters."

Anna buried her head in her hands and her words came out muffled; "I didn't mean for you to get that impression." She raised her head and took one of Harry's hands. His scar twinged, barely noticeable, and a sense of dread grew within him. "Harry, there's a spell that's used mostly with old families. It's a kind of failsafe against a firstborn child being female. It's called the Conception Charm. A wizard casts it on a woman and, if done correctly, their child begins to grow in her womb. That spell was cast on my mother, but not by Malfoy or any of the Death Eaters. Harry, it was cast by Voldemort."

Harry couldn't help it. Ripping his hand from hers, he stood. The pained expression on her face was immediate.

"You're kidding, right?"

"You must believe me Harry, I would never hurt you."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't Sirius tell me?" he demanded. "Remus, you didn't know?"

The werewolf shook his head.

"We were going to tell you – both of you," Anna promised, splaying her hands out beseechingly. "We planned to convince Dumbledore into letting you stay at Grimmauld Place as soon as the term was over. We we're going to tell you both then. But honestly, it's hardly of any matter anyway. Voldemort knows he can't turn me, he's tried before and it's never worked. It never will. The only thing he wants me for now is to kill me."

Harry thought about it. He thought about all the opportunities that she had had, not only these past weeks but this past year, to hurt him and how, all along, she'd only tried to help him. He thought about how, just like him, she had no choice in this, her birth had been prophesised before she'd even been born; like him, prophecies had structured her life from the beginning. He thought about how Dumbledore trusted her, how the Order and Hermione trusted her. But most of all Harry thought about how Sirius had trusted her – loved her – and how broken she had been since Sirius had died, and he knew that she wasn't lying.

He sat down again.

"Okay. I believe you."

_**-------------------------**_

"You know, you could have told me."

Anna started a bit at the voice but turned to Remus with a calm expression.

"I know I could've. I always knew that you wouldn't treat me any differently and that you'd still trust me," she said, "But Remus, even though I know all that, I was still afraid. If I hadn't figured out your lycanthropy, would you have told me?"

"Eventually."

"Well, this is my eventually. Please, don't be upset."

Remus walked over to the porch railing and leant against it beside her.

"I'm not. Nothing's changed."

Anna smiled and looked back at the house. Harry was sleeping soundly on one of the couches; it was past midnight."

"I'm very glad to hear it."

_**-------------------------**_

Harry woke the next morning to the sounds of Anna pottering around the kitchen. He groaned and rubbed sleep from his eyes. From the sounds coming from the bathroom, it seemed Remus was taking a shower.

"Come on, kiddo, I know you're awake," Anna called, "I'm cooking toast à la France."

Anna rolled her eyes when Harry suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

"Honestly, men," she huffed, "Appeal to their stomachs and miracles will happen!"

He smiled with her and sat at the counter. Soon after, Anna set a plate of French toast in front of him and he went about dousing it in maple syrup and cinnamon sugar.

"Steady on, Harry!" Anna exclaimed.

Harry shrugged.

"I'm a growing boy."

Harry and Anna ate together and shared easy conversation.

"Harry, there's something else you should know," Anna said quietly as she set the dishes washing in the sink with her wand.

He felt his stomach drop as he said, "What?"

Anna faced him square on.

"I've been wondering how to tell you this since I found out. You should've been the first to know, but at the beginning I wasn't sure how I was feeling about it myself and then… well, I just had no clue how to tell you." Anna swallowed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Harry, I'm pregnant."

Harry was gob smacked. _Pregnant?_

"I know," Anna said, agreeing with his wordless shock, "It was the last thing I expected as well. Sirius and I were always careful."

Harry searched for something to say.

"When did you find out?" he finally managed.

"Uh… a couple of days after the Ministry."

Harry's heart broke for her. To lose your lover so suddenly like that and to find out so soon after that you were going to have his child must have been agony.

"So you're going to keep it?"

"Him," she corrected, "And yes. For a while I wasn't sure… I didn't want to do this without Sirius and I didn't think I could do it alone. But I'm not alone," Anna said with conviction, "And it feels that Sirius might be here anyway… in you and in Remus and in me and now, in our son."

Harry walked over to Anna and put his hand over hers. She smiled.

* * *

A/N: Let me know what you think! 


	5. Back Home

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N: beta read**

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Four: 

_**Call me on your way back home, dear  
Because I miss you  
And I just want to die without you  
Oh, I just want to die without you **_

_**Yeah, I just want to die without you  
Honey, ain't nothing new.**_

**Ryan Adams, **_**Call Me On Your Way Back Home**_

"Focus, Harry! Visualise! Are you visualising?"

"Yes," Harry muttered, a tad impatiently.

"Well, obviously not enough," she snapped back, impatient as well. Harry was taken aback a moment: rarely did Anna lose her temper. She took a breath. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"That's okay. I don't understand why I can't get this either."

They were in the room they usually used for Occlumency training. After being satisfied that Harry's first mind-wall was solidly built, Anna had begun attacking him with Legilimancy. Unfortunately, his wall wasn't holding at all.

"We just need to keep practising. Prepare yourself." She gave him a few moments before shouting, "_Legilimins_!"

It was his eighth birthday and Dudley was gifting him by chasing him around the school with his pack of friends and with a crack he was on the school roof, bewildered… Uncle Vernon was shaking a report card at him, reprimanding him angrily for academically outstripping his cousin… It was his first year at Hogwarts and his eyes were prickling with tears; he had presents! Real presents, and Mrs. Weasley, a woman he'd hardly met, had sent him a warm, thick jumper like nothing else he owned… He was soaring through the clouds, glancing around for the slightest glint of gold and _there it was_! He'd caught the Snitch and won the cup, Ron and Hermione were applauding, running towards him, hugging him fiercely…

Harry let out a gasping breath as the images faded. Getting up off the floor, he looked to Anna. She was frowning and fingering her wand thoughtfully.

"I have an idea."

"I think I'd do about anything right now," Harry admitted.

She looked at him shrewdly.

"Cast the spell on me."

Well, that'd been the last thing he'd expected her to say.

"What? Why?"

She sighed. "I think it might help, give you an idea of what your defences should look like. I'll lower mine to the first wall. Are you ready?"

"Okay," he answered nervously.

"Use my wand. It should be compatible enough and the Ministry won't be able to track it. _Legilimins_, on three. Ready? One… two… three!"

"_Legilimins_!"

Harry pushed out with his mind.

Nothing happened. He let out a frustrated growl.

"Again, Harry," Anna commanded. "You need more _power_!"

Raising the wand, he cried: "_Legilimins_!"

There wasn't a chink in her amour. Anna's wall was completely smooth; faultless and flawless like obsidian. He concentrated as hard as he could, but there was no weakness, no point at which he could push through. And then slowly, perhaps even a little deliberately, Harry thought, a tiny crack appeared.

Harry pushed forward and with Anna's recommendation of more power in mind, poured everything he had into it. The stronghold was breached.

A young girl was holding a midnight black wand in her little hand, pointing it uncertainly at a dishevelled man. "Like this?" she was saying, and received a nod in return. A pale hand covered her own and directed the wand movements. "_Avada Kedavra_!"… Older now, she was cowering in the corner of a dark and dank room while shadows of a horrifically intimate dance rippled across the stone walls, grunts, groans and cries for mercy puncturing the still air… a young, hook-nosed man was attending to a woman's vicious wounds with gentle hands, while the girl looked on apprehensively… A pale, golden haired young man had her pinned against the wall and was cutting at her soft skin with a sharp knife, counting as he went…

Harry pulled back. Anna was on all fours on the floor, panting for breath. He hurried over.

"Are you okay?"

She accepted his hand up and brushed her hair back from her face.

"Yeah; yeah, I'm okay."

"You let me in, didn't you?"

She smiled a bit.

"Yes. The exercise wasn't to expand your Legilimency. Just to show you what it's like. I didn't expect you to be so strong though."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she smiled again. "It was exactly what I wanted you to do. You're a very powerful wizard, Harry."

Harry looked down. He was itching to ask her about what he'd seen, but wasn't sure if it was his place.

"Go ahead," she said gently.

"Was it – was it really like that?" he asked eventually.

"That and worse."

"Eight years. For eight years, you said."

"Yes."

"How did you survive?"

Anna frowned.

"I had my mother. And I had Severus. Never underestimate the strength that the people you love give you, Harry."

"I won't."

_-------------------------_

"That was delicious, Anna."

"Thank you, Remus," Anna replied with a smile as Remus gathered their dishes from the table to place in the sink. "Lasagne has always been my favourite food."

"Mine too, now," Harry grinned.

She stuck her tongue out playfully. Harry, drinking butterbeer, was seated across from Anna and Remus at the dinner table. It'd been a few days since Harry had succeeded in invading Anna's mind and since he had made significant headway in blocking his own thoughts.

"There's an Order meeting tomorrow night, Harry," Remus commented as he sat back in his chair. He glanced sidelong at Anna.

"Remus and I were thinking about talking to the Order. About you," Anna continued.

"We both think it's about time you were allowed to be more involved."

Harry straightened.

"Are you serious?"

"Very," Anna responded. "Your age should no longer be an issue. You've proven yourself capable of dealing with adult situations maturely. You've grown up a lot in the last year. Regardless of what everybody else thinks, you're going to be heavily involved in this war. Now, not when you're of age; Voldemort isn't going to wait."

"What do you think, Harry?" Remus asked.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," Harry said. "Do you think it will work?"

"We'll see."

_-------------------------_

"Are there any other matters that need to be brought to our attention?"

There was general silence throughout the room. Remus looked to Anna and she nodded. He cleared his throat.

"Yes, Remus?"

"Anna and I have something to say," he began. "About Harry."

Dumbledore sighed.

"What about Harry?"

"We think he should be more included," Anna said. "Perhaps even be allowed to sit in on Order meetings. It's time he took a more active role in this war."

There was a general outburst of voices, a few in agreement but most in protest, which lasted until Dumbledore quieted the group.

"Harry is just a child," Molly said firmly, the obvious leader for the anti-involvement camp. "He should not have to deal with this kind of responsibility so young."

"Harry has been dealing with responsibility like this since he was eleven years old," Remus countered, "And whether we allow him into the Order or not, he's going to be dealing with it. Why not let him become more involved, know what's going on? He's matured greatly in the past year and is able to make sound, adult decisions."

"Adult decisions like blundering in to the Ministry of Magic and getting his godfather killed?" Mad-Eye Moody barked. There was a sudden chill in the room.

"Harry has no blame in that," Remus said very coldly. "We are entirely to blame. If we had included Harry and let him know what was going on earlier, that never would've happened and you all know it!"

"Anna, we have already been very liberal in allowing Harry – " Dumbledore began, but Anna interrupted.

"In what, bringing Harry to a place where people actually care for him?" she snapped.

"Now, Anna, while I realise the Dursleys may've been negligent in taking care of Harry, I'm sure it's not as bad as you make out."

"Negligent doesn't begin to cover it, Albus. Perhaps abusive is a better term."

Some Order members, at least, looked a little guilty at that.

"We agree with Remus and Anna," the twins spoke up.

"So do I. Sorry, Mum," Bill added.

"He's too young. He shouldn't have to deal with this. He has plenty of time to grow up," Molly insisted.

Anna sighed impatiently.

"Do you really think Voldemort cares about Harry's age? He wants him dead, Molly, and I hardly think he's going to wait for Harry to grow up before killing him," she spoke very sharply, deciding that to soften the words would be only a detriment to their argument. "Harry needs experience, he needs to learn; to fight; to be treated like the adult that he is. This war rests entirely on his shoulders and it is unfair on him and on all of us to continue pretending that it doesn't."

"He's not a child anymore," Remus said quietly, "And being able to fight might be the deciding factor in whether or not he gets any older at all."

_-------------------------_

"Severus."

"Anna."

The darkly intimidating man took her hand and squeezed gently.

"Thank you for continuing to send the nutrient potions."

"Not at all, Anna; it's the least I can do." He paused and led her over to the corner of the kitchen. The meeting had ended and members had either left Grimmauld Place or had stayed to chat. Remus was talking with the Weasleys, perhaps mollifying Molly after their argument. Anna looked up at Severus, whose dark eyes were concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No. Yes," she decided eventually. Anna sighed, "I'm managing."

"Are you – are you sure you're doing the right thing? No one would begrudge you if – "

"No," she said with a firm shake of her head. "I thought about that for a long time, Severus, but I know I'm making the right choice in having this child. It's what my mother would've done, too." She shook her head. "It's what she _did_ do. A child was forced upon her in the most terrible circumstances. I know she told you about coming close to aborting me… or killing herself while I was still in her womb."

"She had no idea what or who you would be, Anna," Severus said sharply. "She knew that she might be giving birth to the child that would solidify the Dark Lord's power. You must stop governing your choices by what she would've done."

Anna's face crumpled a little as she looked at him.

"Please, Severus, can't you just be there for me? Support me? It's what I need right now."

He sighed and took her hand again, pressing it to his lips. The Potions Master reached into the folds of his black robes and brought out a small box, tied with a pretty blue bow. Taking it wordlessly, Anna opened it to find he had given her a delicate silver baby rattle.

"Congratulations."

Teary-eyed, Anna grabbed him into a hug.

"Thank you, Severus."

They stood together and looked out over the basement kitchen.

"Have you told the boy yet?"

"Harry?" He nodded. "Yes," Anna said. "He took it quite well."

"You've become quite the champion for him."

Anna huffed angrily.

"If no one will let him fight, somebody has to fight for him."

Remus walked over at that point.

"Should we go and tell him, then?"

Anna nodded.

"Yes, lets. I'll see you soon, Severus."

The Potions Master nodded and headed off in the direction of Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"Shall we?"

Anna accepted Remus' arm and together they climbed the stairs to find Harry. He was pacing in his room, running his hand through his hair nervously. When they arrived at the door he looked to them expectantly.

"Well?"

Remus nodded.

"You're in."

_-------------------------_

Harry couldn't sleep. It was well past midnight but he was up, wandering the gloomy halls of Grimmauld Place. It wasn't a bad thing to do at night, when you want to sleep but can't. The halls were dark and long and seemingly endless, leaving much room for reflection and thought. Harry trailed his fingers along the dusty wall as he contemplated the past weeks he had spent at Grimmauld Place – a month now – and all that had happened; learning Occlumency, staying with Remus and Anna in her cabin in Wales, Anna being _pregnant_.

When Harry reached the third landing of the house, however, all thoughts fled from his mind. There was a light trickling into the hallway from under the door of the bathroom. At first, Harry simply dismissed it as Remus or Anna taking a late night trip to the toilet, but when he heard a soft, strangled sob, Harry knew something was wrong.

"Anna? Is that you in there?" Harry asked, pressing his ear close to the door.

There was no response but the sobbing increased, breathless and throaty.

"Anna, I'm going to come in now, okay?"

He twisted the doorknob and entered.

Anna was standing in the bath. Her pale nightgown was clinging to her legs, sticky with blood, and a hand was clenched to her abdomen.

"H-Harry," she said, her face terrible with pain and grief, "You need to g-get Remus."

Harry nodded, his eyes still wide with shock, and backed out of the bathroom, hurrying into the slumbering werewolf's room.

"Remus, wake up!" he shouted, shaking the man's shoulders. Remus woke in an instant.

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's Anna," Harry explained hurriedly, "She's in the bathroom – there's blood."

Remus was out of bed in the blink of an eye and Harry followed him back to the bathroom. The older man cursed when he saw Anna.

"R-Remus," Anna managed through hiccuping sobs, "It's the baby."

"Harry, get to the kitchen – the fireplace. We need to Floo to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded and hurried downstairs, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder from the mantle and tossing it into the dying flames of the kitchen fire. Remus came down not a moment later, holding Anna tightly in his arms.

"I'm taking her to Madame Pomfrey," Remus said, "Harry, you need to stay here."

"No! Please, let me come!" Harry begged. "Please, Remus."

"Alright," Remus said, not bothering to fight. "You go first, run to the Hospital Wing and get Poppy up."

Harry nodded and moved to the fireplace.

"What should I tell her?" he asked, moments before shouting his destination.

Remus looked at Anna.

"Tell her – tell her I think she's had a miscarriage."


	6. Breathe Me

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N: beta read**

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Five: 

**Be my friend**

**Hold me**

**Wrap me up**

**Unfold me**

**I am small, I need you**

**Warm me up**

**And breathe me. **

**- **_**Breathe Me**_**, Sia**

_Anna awoke in a forest glade where sunlight trickled down through the trees to dance across the grass. There was a beautiful garden, rivers of wildflowers, twining ivy, wild roses and lilies. And _he_ was there, waiting for her, coming out of the trees like a dream. _

"_Sirius," she breathed and he smiled, coming to sit beside her. He didn't speak but placed a hand on her full, curved belly and she felt her unborn child kick in response to his touch. He smiled still, but the kicking inside her turned painful and she clutched at her stomach, suddenly finding her hands were coated in blood. _

"_Sirius?"_

_He was still smiling._

"_Sirius, help me! Sirius!"_

_-------------------------_

"Sirius!" Anna woke with the name on her lips.

She was in the hospital wing. It was light outside but the curtains were drawn. To the left of the bed she lay in, Harry was curled in a chair, asleep, and on her right Remus seemed to have been sleeping too but her shout had stirred him. The look that passed over his face when he realised that she was awake stole the breath from her.

"He's gone, isn't he," she said, her fingers moving swiftly to her abdomen.

Remus nodded.

Anna couldn't breathe; her breath was coming in great, heaving gasps that tore at her throat and seemed to rip her insides apart. Gone. _Gone_. Her baby was gone. She could feel it. She could feel inside her some absence, a space that should have been filled; there was something missing.

She heard movement beside her. Remus was now sitting on the bed and she felt his fingers on her shoulders, leaning her against him. He didn't say anything – what could he say? – as if he knew that no words could comfort her now.

Then, through her haze of tears and _he's gone, he's gone, my baby is gone, _Harry woke up and took her hand.

They cried with her, watching as she fell apart.

_-------------------------_

"Can I see him? I want to see him."

"Is that – is that a good idea?" Remus asked hesitantly.

Madame Pomfrey nodded.

"It can help with the grieving process, dear. Let me know when you're ready, and I'll take you to see him."

"Now," she responded immediately. "I want to see him now."

Poppy hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Of course, dear. If you're sure."

The matronly woman led Anna over to a door leading out of the main part of the Hospital Wing.

Placing her hand over the door, Anna went to turn the nob but snatched her hand back at the last moment, as if it had been burned.

"Could someone – could somebody please get Severus?"

"I'll go," Harry said, glad to do something.

"We tried before," Remus said once Harry had left, "When we first brought you here last night. Severus wasn't there. Perhaps he was with Voldemort."

She nodded numbly and waited for them to return, fiddling idly with the starchy fabric of her overlarge nightgown. Remus approached her gently and covered her shoulders with a blanket.

"Thanks," she muttered, twining her long fingers into the blanket, pulling it closer to her.

Severus came not a moment later. He was panting, so Anna reasoned he must've run after Harry told him. She was thankful.

"Anna," he said and strode quickly towards her. With a hand he lifted her chin and inspected her face carefully before pulling her in towards him. She stood limply in his embrace until he stepped away.

"Will you come with me to see the baby?"

"Of course, child."

She went in, this time without hesitation.

There wasn't much to look at. Her baby had been young and undeveloped, but some figure was distinguishable in the bloody mess. She looked over the remains of her child dispassionately and wondered why she wasn't crying, wasn't the emotional wreck she should be. Shock, she supposed. There was the tiniest, most miniscule feeling of relief within her and it was beginning to make her sick with guilt.

"It's my fault," she uttered eventually, still staring at her ruined son. "I didn't want him. It's my fault."

"It is normal to feel that way, I imagine," Severus said softly. "But you know it's not true. Sometimes these things just happen. You will come to realise this in time."

She stepped closer to Severus and leaned against him.

"I hope you're right."

_-------------------------_

Harry took Anna by the elbow and led her gently from the fireplace into the gloomy kitchen of Sirius' old home. The fire lit a brilliant green again and Remus stepped out, looking at once over to Harry and Anna to see that she was okay.

She wasn't.

Anna still hadn't quite processed everything that had happened. She sat quietly in the seat that Remus ushered her to and accepted the tea that Harry offered.

"I think I might go upstairs," she said eventually, putting her untouched tea back on the table. When Anna reached the door she turned and spoke without facing them. "Thank you both for the last couple of days."

She was about to crack and she knew it. Anna couldn't cry here, not properly, not in front of Remus and Harry, who had lost so much but were still giving. She quickly left the room, hurrying into her own and closing the door behind her. Anna collapsed onto the bed and pulled the blankets over her, curling onto her side as great, wracking sobs shook her body. She didn't know that Remus had followed her upstairs; that he was standing outside listening to her cry, his heart in his hand.

_-------------------------_

Anna didn't come out of her room for a while. Remus took food up every day and emerged always with an unhappy frown and tired eyes. She came out only to use the bathroom, and even then her presence was fleeting. Snape visited often, generally with little to say to Remus or Harry. He'd swoop up into her room and disappear in there for hours. In his idle wanderings around Grimmauld Place, Harry passed Anna's room but never heard talking. He imagined they were only sitting together in silence, sharing the weight of her loss between them.

Finally, a week later, Anna came down for breakfast. Remus and Harry were seated at the table and without looking at them she came in and made some toast and tea. Eventually, she sat at the table and looked at each of them. Her face was pale and the smudges under her eyes dark. She didn't smile, but they could see that she was getting better. Harry noticed that around her neck she wore a tiny silver baby rattle, threaded on a slim chain.

"I think I would've called him Benjamin."

She picked up her toast and took a bite.


	7. Numbers and Figures

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N: **Hey, thanks everyone who is still reading and reviewing, I appreciate it. Hope you're still enjoying the fic.

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Six: 

_**I was just guessing at numbers and figures  
Pulling your puzzles apart.  
Questions of science, science and progress  
Could not speak as loud as my heart  
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me  
Oh, and I rush to the start  
**_

**- **_**The Scientist**_**, Coldplay**

Harry was bored.

It was the end of another Order meeting and he was almost wishing he had never been allowed to sit in. So far, Order meetings seemed to consist of discussing possible new recruits, speculation of Voldemort's plans and conference regarding the Wizengamot's difficulty in appointing a new Minister for Magic, now that Fudge had been sacked. This, at least, Harry was mildly interested in. It seemed that Voldemort was trying his hand in politics, attempting to make it as hard as possible for a new Minister to be appointed by having his Death Eaters with seats in the Wizengamot split the Wizarding council in two. At the moment, Amelia Bones was sitting in as the head of the Ministry but she wasn't allowed to make any drastic changes until either she or someone else was officially selected.

"Something has to be done, Albus, we can't continue on like this," Arthur Weasley was saying. "The Ministry is a complete shambles; Tibbons and McArthur have completely undermined it. Can't you do something?"

Professor Dumbledore sighed.

"As head of the Wizengamot I must remain completely neutral," he answered. "If I appear to move in either direction, surely Tibbons or McArthur would call for a vote of no confidence in me, a possibility we can't afford at this point."

"Can't we just get rid of one of them?" Harry asked, fidgeting as the entire Order turned to look at him. "Tibbons and McArthur have either coerced or blackmailed large amounts of the Wizengamot into different groups, each supporting a different candidate, so a sufficient majority can't be reached in a vote, right?" He received various nods for this succinct summary. "Well, if we eliminate one half of the opposition, if we get rid of either Tibbons or McArthur, shouldn't Professor Dumbledore be able to pass a vote?"

"That would work perfectly, Harry, but it's not too easy to make men like Tibbons or McArthur back down or disappear," Remus said gently.

"Voldemort makes people disappear all the time," Harry countered, ignoring the scattered gasps of the assembled groups at his use of the name. "I know we can't sink to his level by killing or kidnapping either of them, but we have to take some form of action."

"I may regret saying this, but I think the boy is right," Professor Snape said sourly. "Inaction is no longer a policy that works to the Order's advantage, if it ever was. Perhaps if we follow Tibbons or McArthur closely, we may find sufficient evidence to imprison them for suspicion of being a Death Eater, if not confirmation of their allegiance entirely."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment and then decided.

"This seems to be the direction we should take with this problem; however, we've run out of time for this meeting. If everyone could think further on this and perhaps our friends in the Ministry take a closer look at Tibbons and McArthur, by the next meeting we may have a firm plan to put in action. We are adjourned, ladies and gentlemen."

Harry turned to Anna, who was beside him. It was the first Order meeting she'd attended since Harry had found her bleeding in the bathroom and she'd barely said a word. She gave Harry a small smile and patted his hand.

"Good work, Harry. You're right; we need to start taking more action against Voldemort."

Harry smiled, glad for her approval.

"Harry, Anna."

The young Gryffindor turned. Mrs. Weasley was approaching, a funny expression on her face. She still didn't agree with Harry being allowed to sit in on meetings.

"You're both well?"

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Weasley."

"I'm glad. They haven't been able to tell you in their letters, in case of interception, but Ron and Hermione were wondering if they might come and stay here with you, from next week."

"Of course!" Harry exclaimed, excited at the idea of seeing his friends, "As long as that's okay with you and Remus, Anna."

She squeezed his hand again and seemed to give a genuine smile.

"It'd be nice to have the house full again. They'd arrive on Monday, Molly?""

"Yes, around midday."

"That's perfect, just in time to help organise a birthday party for you, Harry."

The teenager shook his head: "You don't need to do that, Anna, honestly – "

"Nonsense, Harry," Remus interjected, having wandered over to hear the last part of their conversation, "Of course you're getting a birthday party."

"We insist," Anna added and she and Remus smiled at each other over Harry's shoulder. He shrugged. There didn't seem to be anything he could do.

_**-------------------------**_

The party was in full swing. Anna and Remus had expanded the first level dining room to a huge size and had decorated it madly with multicoloured balloons and streamers, though Gryffindor red and gold held a majority. The room was bursting full with Order members and Weasleys; dancing, drinking eating and talking. Harry, despite himself, was having a great time. Anna had managed to contact Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood and they, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry were seated in a circle of overstuffed armchairs and couches, laughing as they recalled the happier moments of the last five years.

"Present time!" Anna shouted and a general cheer went up as most of the guests moved towards Harry's small group. Harry suddenly found himself bombarded with gifts as Remus levitated the wrapped bundles over to him.

A little self-consciously, aware that Anna was taking photographs with a steaming magical camera, Harry began unwrapping his presents. Luna and Neville had gotten him a few bars from Honeydukes, which seemed to be a theme as most of the Order had gotten him some kind of candy as well.

Hermione had given him a new Broom Servicing Kit as the ever-practical prefect had noticed the first one she'd gave him three years ago was getting old and running low. It seemed Hermione and Ron had enacted some strange role reversal as Ron had gifted him with a book on Seeker techniques which had neat drawings of Wronski Feints and other Seeker manoeuvres that he could follow. The twins gave him a large bag of their latest, not-even-for-sale-yet jokes; "For our silent partner," they had whispered, handing it over.

Finally, Remus and Anna had given him two books on blocking ones mind and creating advanced defences in Occlumency. There was another small box though, amongst Remus and Anna's gifts and he opened it to find a brand new, glittering Golden Snitch.

"Wow! Remus, Anna, thanks!"

"No worries kid," Anna smiled. "And on that note…" With a wave of her wand the lights went down and she conjured up the cake that had been hidden from Harry in the kitchen. It was covered in candles and the party guests quickly began to sing Harry a Happy Birthday. It was the first time anyone had done so and Harry found himself feeling quite emotional about it. As if he had sensed this, Remus gave Harry a comforting smile and put a hand on his shoulder as he beckoned him to blow out the sixteen candles. He did, in one go and when the lights went back on he laughed aloud at the cake.

"It's a snitch!"

Anna laughed.

"We thought you'd like that

"Are its wings moving?"

Remus nodded.

"Anna charmed them. Neat, huh?"

"Definitely," Harry laughed.

"Enough chit chat, cut into it!"

Anna handed him a knife and he made the first cut. The knife came out dirty and Harry laughingly pecked Hermione on the cheek. Soon, the cake had been served and everyone was digging in, most exclaiming that it was delicious. The music went back on and everyone separated into their different groups, talking and laughing once more.

Their fun was spoiled, however, when a small owl rocketed into the room and smashed into Professor Dumbledore's beard-covered chest.

"Slow down there, young fellow," the Headmaster frowned and quickly unfolded the letter, which Harry now noticed was marked by the Ministry crest. "Oh dear."

"Albus, what is it?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore lowered the letter and surveyed the room.

"Lord Voldemort is attacking Azkaban prison. The Ministry needs back up, they can't hold him off. They've asked us to go." He seemed strangely despondent for a moment, merely watching as the room erupted into action. Then, slowly, Harry watched as Professor Dumbledore seemed to come back into himself and take charge. "Enough! Alastor, Kingsley, I want you to each lead two teams of eight into the fortress and around it. Back up the Ministry, go now as quickly as you can." It seemed that groups had already been decided as many of the Order members nodded and followed either Mad-Eye or Kingsley out of the room. "Remus, Anna, the Dementors are attacking the Welsh coastline. You both have strong Patroni. Go and protect the public; we can't have hundreds of Kissed Muggle civilians." Dumbledore surveyed who was remaining and seemed to realise it was only the twins and the Hogwarts students. "Take whoever you can. See if you can organise runners and readers. The injured members will end up either here or at St. Mungo's." In a rush, he and McGonagall left.

"I'm coming," Harry said as soon as they were gone. "You know my Patronus is strong enough, Remus."

Remus and Anna didn't even argue; they knew that they would need help.

"Which of you can cast corporeal Patroni; and I mean every time, not just once or twice," Anna asked.

The twins stood, as did Luna and Ginny.

Ron muttered, "Only sometimes," under his breath and Hermione's face flamed. Neville gave a sheepish smile.

"It doesn't matter," Remus said, slipping easily into his authoritative Professor-mode. "Now, you three, you'll have jobs anyway. Neville, go to Hogwarts through the kitchen Floo and run quickly to the Infirmary. You need to bring Madame Pomfrey back here with you and help her carry any supplies she'll need. There are going to be casualties and injuries tonight. _Accio Order parchment_! _Accio_ quills! _Accio_ owls!" A dense book and Hedwig, Pigwedgeon, Anna's owl and an owl Harry hadn't seen before came shooting into the room. Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder and ruffled her wings indignantly at being summoned so. "Ron, Hermione, this book is the way that the Order keeps in contact with each other in battle. You see the sections? Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, Kingsley and I will each have a paper that we'll write on if we need immediate help or reinforcements. You need to keep track of things and if any of us says anything about needing the Ministry or someone from St. Mungo's, use the owl to make the order. Understand?"

Ron looked terrified and Hermione fiercely determined, but they nodded and took the items into their hands.

"We have to go, now."

"Here," Remus said, handing out blocks of chocolate to each of the people who were going. "Eat it when you need to. Don't be stupid about it."

Ushering the twins, Harry and the girls out of the room, the small team headed to the front door. Anna was holding a bunch of cutlery she had snatched from the dining room and magicked into portkeys.

"Before we go; no heroics!" Remus said gravely. "Don't go rushing off into battle and _do as we tell you_. It's under that condition only that you're being allowed to go, is that understood? We won't split off and no one will go off on their own. If Anna or I tell you to leave, leave _immediately_. We can take care of ourselves."

"Here." Anna passed around a spoon to each of them. "These will take you back to Headquarters. If we send you home, go immediately in to the house once you arrive on the street. If at anytime you feel at all like the Dementors are too strong and they're affecting you too much, get as close as you can to me. I'll work on keeping a strong positive aura around me to alleviate the effect." She thrust a serving fork out in front of her. "Grab hold. Three – two – one!"

Harry felt a tug behind his navel and then they were spinning wildly in midair before coming to a crash landing on soft grass. Harry stood up, offering Ginny and Luna a hand, before surveying where they had landed. They were on the outskirts of a small-sized town. Harry counted themselves lucky that the coastline opposite the island of Azkaban hadn't been a densely populated suburban area. The town was quiet, though; spookily so, and Harry spotted almost immediately a pocket of Dementors stalking through the streets.

"There," he said quietly and Remus nodded.

"There must be about fifteen. Stay together," the werewolf whispered to them, "And stay close to Anna."

"Woah, you're glowing."

Turning at Fred's startled voice, Harry was surprised to see that Anna was in fact letting off a very faint pale lilac glow.

She nodded; "Good, it's working. Come closer and you should feel it."

Harry did as she suggested and bit back a sigh at the feeling of complete contentment that washed over him when he approached her.

"That's wonderful," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice.

"Come on," Remus interrupted, pulling them all back to a harsh reality. "Wands at the ready."

Harry thought hard about Ron and Hermione, raised his wand and let his voice join the chorus of, "Expecto Patronum!" Prongs erupted from his wand and charged towards the Dementors, joined by two identical monkeys, a silver hare and some kind of big cat. Harry had seen these patroni in D.A lessons before; what he was really interested in seeing was the forms that Remus and Anna's patroni took. Harry felt a bit of a pang in his chest when he recognised the huge dog that Remus had sent flying off into the melee and suppressed a laugh when he saw a shaggy pony entering the battle.

"Always been my favourite animal," Anna said, sending him a tight smile.

"It suits you," Harry said back.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I choose not to be offended by that. Come on, move forwards everyone."

"What are we going to do with them?" Ginny asked, watching as their patroni rounded the dementors into a tight circle.

"Trap them," Remus replied, "On three, Anna. One… two… three… _Arcaes patronus_!" they both shouted and spindly webs of pearl white shot out of both Anna and Remus' wand, forming a solid cage around the dementors. "We'll keep them in here until the Headmaster decides what to do with them."

"What kind of spell is that?" Fred asked, a little awed, "I've never heard of it before."

"It's a pretty obscure charm," Anna explained, "It was developed during the time I was working in the Experimental Charms Department. As far as I know it's only being taught to Ministry personnel… aurors, other people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Come on, we should keep moving. There might be more," Remus prompted and the small group began to move forwards into the small town. As they passed through the quiet streets, Harry felt a growing sense of dread fill his throat. This town shouldn't be so silent at six pm on a Sunday night. Kids should be everywhere; families should be barbequing, going for walks, hanging out in the front yard trading news with neighbours. When he spotted a dark clump up ahead on the sidewalk, his heart jumped into his mouth and he started moving forward at a quicker pace, somehow knowing what he was going to find and denying it at the same time.

"Harry, wait!"

He ignored Remus and dropped to his knees beside the three tiny bodies. Two boys and a girl. The boys couldn't be older than five or six, but the girl was younger, maybe only four years old, and her vibrant red curls spilled around her pale face. Their eyes were open, gazing indiscriminately up towards the starless sky. They were breathing, still alive, but empty shells, devoid of any signs of life. _Kissed,_ Harry realised. _This is what the Dementor's Kiss looks like. _

There was a choked cry behind him. Fred and George were comforting Ginny, who was crying, and the twins didn't look much better. The glowing light around Anna had blinked out. She and Remus just looked sad, but resolute and like usual, Harry couldn't tell what Luna was thinking.

"It's not just them," the Ravenclaw said, the dreaminess in her voice gone, "They Kissed everyone."

Looking over the neighbourhood, Harry saw she was right. There was another body, an older woman, collapsed on the steps of her porch. Across the road the lights of a corner shop were on and they brightly lit a sickening tableau; a young girl slumped over the counter where she had been handing change to two boys and their father.

"There must be more dementors than the ones we've already dealt with," Remus said quietly, "We need to move forward and deal with them before they hurt anyone else."

"That way," Anna said, pointing to the opposite end of town, "I can feel them. There are at least thirty."

She was pale, Harry noted, and the aura surrounding her was almost completely indistinguishable. As they walked towards where she had indicated, Harry dropped back beside her and touched her arm.

"Are you okay?"

Anna nodded; "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you, Harry."

They moved forward quickly and soon enough they reached a small shopping plaza. Faint screams came from within but soon they were silenced. Harry felt sweat begin to form at his hairline as numerous dark shapes began emerging from the shopping centre. Terrible power coursed through him, tingling over his skin and down to his fingertips. He felt as if a well of magic had opened up from deep inside of him and poured through his limbs. Resolutely, he stepped forward and roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the brilliant red of the little girls curls – the same colour as his mother's hair – fresh in his mind.

Harry expected Prongs, silver and transparent, to come from his wand, but instead Prongs, the same silver but _solid_, burst forth and reared on his hind legs. He dashed forward to the closest dementor and speared the creature on his magnificent antlers, visibly puncturing the wraith in the chest. The dementor screamed, a terrible, piercing noise, and appeared to collapse in on itself, shrinking and shrinking until there was nothing else.

"What the…" Fred began but seemed to lose sight of his words.

Harry, though he was as dumbfounded as any of the others, kept his wand trained on the dementors and beckoned for Prongs to continue his assault. Soon everyone else began directing their own patroni to round up the creatures for Prongs to… vanquish? Kill? Harry didn't know.

Prongs, _real life­ _Prongs trotted over to Harry and bowed his antlered head before him. Harry, with a shaking hand, reached out and touched his father.

"Dad…" he mumbled, and Prongs disappeared. Turning, he saw that the others were grouped behind him, staring with wide eyes. "What… I don't understand."

Fred and George shrugged.

"Come on. That's all of them, I think," Anna murmured, "We should do a sweep of the town… for survivors."

"I'll contact Ron and Hermione, tell them to speak to the Ministry about… about everyone whose been Kissed," Remus said.

Quickly, they began moving through the streets, houses and shops but found no one alive, just dozens upon dozens of lifeless bodies. As they reached the coastline, Ginny gasped and pointed out to sea. Harry could see, far away, a dark hulking mass of land, sporadically lit up by sharp bursts of light; bright purple, poisonous yellow and sometimes a sickening, familiar green.

"Azkaban."

Suddenly, there was an abrupt trilling noise and Remus reached for his pocket.

"What do they say?" Anna asked.

"Ministry officials will come as soon as they can, but we're needed over at the island. They're outnumbered, Anna, we have to go now."

Nodding sharply, Anna turned to the kids; "You need to go back to Headquarters now."

"But – "

"Fred, George, we can't stop you from following us to Azkaban, you're adults and trained," Remus began, "But Harry, Ginny, Luna, you know you have to go."

"Use the Portkey, now," Anna finished firmly.

"Okay," Ginny said. "Come on Harry, we'd just get in the way."

Knowing she was right but still not liking it, Harry moved over to Ginny and grasped the handle of the spoon. He shared a quick glance with both Remus and Anna.

"Be careful, please," he said quietly.

"We will," Remus replied. "Now go."

Ginny tapped the spoon with her wand and then they were spinning, spinning, spinning and then suddenly landing on Grimmauld Place with a crash.

"Come on, let's get inside."

Harry and Luna followed Ginny up the front steps and knocked on the front door. Soon enough, a frazzled Ron opened the door.

"In the kitchen, come on."

They rushed down the basement stairs. It was chaotic. Hermione was sitting in the corner, frantically scribbling out messages and orders in the leather-bound books Remus had left with her. Madame Pomfrey was busy already; some Order members were obviously injured and she and Neville were doing what they could to help them.

"Harry, Ron! Take over from me," Hermione called out, "I can help Madame Pomfrey, I know more healing spells than either of you."

Quickly, they complied with her request and Ron began giving him a brief explanation of how to use the books. They got to work immediately and Madame Pomfrey had plenty for the others to do.

"Harry," Hermione called after a while, "Anna, Remus and the twins?"

"At Azkaban," he replied.

She paled a little.

"They'll come back."

Harry nodded and swallowed hard. _She's right_, he told himself,_ they'll come back. They have to. _


	8. On the Wind

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who is still reading! Sorry they take so long to get out, I have to find time between work and university stuff. Please review 

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Seven: 

_**Memories are hunting horns**_

_**Whose sound dies on the wind**_

**- Guillaume Apollinaire, '**_**Cors de Chasse**_**'**

It was nearing midnight. Most of the Order had passed through Headquarters by now, either to receive healing from Madame Pomfrey or check in with Harry and Ron, who had a long list of names in the back of their book which they ticked off whenever a new, tired face emerged. There were only a few names left. Anna and Remus were two of them.

"Fred! George!"

Ginny jumped up from where she'd been sipping on a cup of tea and threw her arms around the twins

"Hey Gin," George mumbled, returning the hug gently.

"Do you need anything? Are you hurt?"

Both twins shook their heads and Fred answered; "No, we're fine. Has everyone else come through?"

Ginny nodded; "Yeah, Mum, Dad and Bill are fine, probably worried sick about you; we should get home so they know you're safe."

"Of course."

Ginny and the twins moved over to the fireplace and each grabbed a handful of Floo Powder.

"Wait," Harry called. The twins turned to him. "Have either of you seen Remus or Anna?"

"Sorry, Harry," George answered with a frown, "We got separated from them straight away."

Harry hung his head and a loud _woosh_ alerted him to the fact that Ginny, Fred and George had now departed Grimmauld Place.

Where were Anna and Remus?

Half an hour of frantic worrying later, Harry's fretting was interrupted by a loud bang from upstairs. It was followed by a resigned, "Ouch," and a weak chuckle. Recognising the voices, Harry jumped from his chair and hurried to the staircase. There they were, both tired and a little dirty, climbing slowly down the stairs.

"Hey, Harry," Remus said when he spotted the Gryffindor.

"You're not hurt?"

They both answered in the negative.

"Then how come you're back so late? Everyone else was back ages ago!" He didn't mean to sound so snappish, but Harry had been worried sick and hadn't enjoyed it at all. "Anna, why is your hair blonde?" Looking closer he realised her eyes were pale green instead of warm brown like usual.

Remus sighed.

"There was something I had to take care of at the Ministry. Anna came along with me and we thought we'd better change her up a bit. Here. _Finite Incantatum._"

Her hair and eyes returned to their normal brown; her skin paled a little bit and freckles reformed across her nose.

"That's better."

"What happened at the Ministry?" Harry asked, curious.

Remus sighed again.

"You might want to sit down, Harry."

Complying, he sat at the long kitchen table.

"Voldemort released all of his Death Eaters tonight. We're not sure if part of his objective was to take over Azkaban or just release the prisoners and dementors, but we managed to drive him off eventually and he and the Death Eaters retreated to wherever they're hiding at the moment. During the cleanup, somebody…" Remus shook his head and Anna placed a hand on the werewolf's shoulder. "Harry, somebody from the Ministry found Peter Pettigrew. He'd been knocked out in battle. The auror who found him went to Hogwarts with us and recognised Wormtail. He's in Ministry custody now. Amelia Bones is heading up an investigation that is likely to end in Sirius' exoneration."

Harry didn't think he could breath. Free. Sirius was going to be _free_. But he was dead, what good would it do now? _How ironic_, he thought darkly.

"You should go to bed, Harry." Anna had moved forward and was standing by Harry, running a hand through his unruly hair. She must've been using her Empathy, he decided, because he suddenly felt a lot calmer than he had before. He leaned into her touch slightly. "All of you should go to bed."

"We'll talk in the morning," Remus insisted and looking up at him Harry saw that he was looking at Harry a little pointedly. Harry realised the werewolf meant they would talk about Prongs and what had happened with the dementors earlier in the evening. When they'd arrived back at Headquarters, Harry, Luna and Ginny had filled the others in on what Harry had produced from his wand. They'd been just as stumped. "Neville, Luna, we spoke to your grandmother and your father earlier. You can stay here tonight; we'll take you home tomorrow."

Moving towards the staircase, Harry turned when he reached the first stair.

"I'm really glad you're both okay," he said.

Anna just smiled and Remus said; "Goodnight, Harry."

As he ascended the stairs, he heard Remus ask Anna quietly; "Firewhiskey?" and smiled when she replied with a groan; "Please."

_**-------------------------**_

It was around eleven o'clock the next day and Anna was hovering a teapot and five teacups over to the kitchen table. She and Remus had just Apparated Neville and Luna back to their homes and once back at Grimmauld Place had called the kids down to the kitchen for tea.

Once they were all seated, Hermione, impatient as ever, spoke up.

"Remus, Anna, do you have any idea what happened yesterday? Harry told us about his Patronus."

They looked at each other and then turned back to the kids.

"Honestly, Hermione, we have no idea," Remus said, "We looked over some books this morning and couldn't find any mention of a corporeal Patronus actually becoming _corporeal_. It must've taken a huge amount of power, Harry."

"How did it feel, when you cast the charm?" Anna asked him.

Harry thought for a minute.

"Like… I don't know, like there was all of this magic inside me and it just spread out, right to my fingertips, when I cast the spell. It was like when I blew up Mrs. Black."

Ron snorted but sobered quickly when Hermione shot him a glare; "Have you ever been able to do that before, Harry?"

He shrugged and said; "Not to that extent."

They were all silent for a moment – thinking – until Hermione finally spoke up.

"In the summer holidays last year, I was reading this rather obscure book about Morgana le Fay's childhood," she began, "And it's been suggested by some old scripts about her that her mother, Igraine, placed a block on Morgana's magic when she was very young because her accidental magic was going haywire; it was too strong and Igraine couldn't teach Morgana how to control it. When Morgana grew older and more disciplined the block was lifted. D'you suppose something similar could be on Harry?"

"That's a fine theory, Hermione, but who would've placed a block on Harry's magic?" Remus posed.

They were thoughtfully quiet again for a while before Anna straightened in her chair.

"Someone else didn't have to place it," she said, "What if Harry did it himself?"

"What?" he burst out, "How did I do that?"

She frowned.

"Harry, for the past few weeks I've been inside your head during Occlumency lessons and I've seen a lot of your memories. Do you mind if I share some of them with the others? I know they're private."

"Of course not," he answered, glad she had asked anyway.

"I've seen numerous memories of the Dursleys denying you food or beating on you whenever you excelled in school or used magic; when you turned your teachers hair a different colour, when you brought home good report cards, when you shrunk that jumper – every time you did better than Dudley or used accidental magic you were punished for it and some of that accidental magic was quite advanced. I didn't really think about it till now but that time you ended up on the roof when Dudley and his friends were chasing you? That was Apparation. I've never heard of an eight year old Apparating before."

"You know, now that I think about it, I remember you used a lot of magic when you were a baby," Remus said pensively, "It used to drive your mother and father insane. You'd always be summoning toys or your bottle to you. I think once you even summoned Lily; you were chucking a tantrum and she was ignoring you."

"So you think Harry put some sort of subconscious block on his magic when he was little?" Ron asked.

"I've heard of this kind of thing in er… Muggle child abuse cases," Hermione said, glancing at Harry apologetically. He shrugged. "Some kids who are abused can become stunted academically. It would certainly explain why it takes Harry forever to learn something simple like a Summoning Charm yet he can cast a corporeal Patronus at thirteen."

"Well, how do we find out if this is true?" Harry asked eventually. "And if it is, how do I get rid of it?"

"Everyone can see into their core," Anna said, "It takes some practice, like any kind of meditation, but I think you'll be able to do it Harry."

"How?"

"You need to cast a spell," Remus said, "Just a simple one. Concentrate enough and you should be able to feel the magic of the spell pass through you and into the wand. Try and follow it."

Anna reached into her pocket and handed Harry her wand.

"Here, use mine. You're used to it by now."

Taking her wand in his hand, he swished it round in the air and said, "_Avis_!"

A flock of birds erupted from the wand but Harry wasn't thinking about this, instead he closed his eyes and concentrated solely on the tingly feeling that paced through his fingertips, trying to trace it back to its source. He travelled along his fingers, through his arm, up through his shoulder and down into his chest, to where he imagined his heart was. _There_! A great, golden orb, made up entirely of webbed golden threads, was pulsing and pounding away, restricted by a blackened blot that covered it on every side. Pulling back, Harry opened his eyes. Remus had his wand out and was Banishing the last of the birds.

"What did you see?" Hermione asked.

"I think you're right. How do I get rid of it?"

"Just rip it off, I think," Anna answered.

Taking hold of the wand again, Harry readied himself to venture back into his magical core when Remus said; "Wait just a second! I think maybe we better move this to Hogwarts."

Thinking back to the amount of power he had felt coursing through him the day he exploded Mrs. Black, Harry thought this was probably a good idea.

"I'll Floo Albus. Just a moment," Anna said, rising from her seat to kneel by the fireplace. "That's fine," she said after a moment, "Come on."

A minute later, they were all grouped together in the Headmaster's office. Remus was just finishing explaining to Dumbledore what they planned to do.

"We think maybe it would be better to unleash Harry's magic here," the werewolf said, "The magical foundations of Hogwarts should be better equipped to deal with any backlash than those at Grimmauld Place."

"Of course," the Headmaster hummed, "Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all, Professor," Harry acquiesced.

"To the Great Hall, then! It's always empty during the summer."

As the small group began moving through the long corridors of Hogwarts and down the stone stairs, Harry reflected that it was a little strange seeing Hogwarts so silent; completely devoid of the racket hundreds of students tended to make.

"I think everybody should stand back," Dumbledore said when they entered the Great Hall, a shrewd twinkle in his eye. "And I might cast an absorption spell over Harry that should take care of any recoil."

Moving into the centre of the room, Harry took up Anna's wand and once Dumbledore had conjured a large dome over him, flicked the wand and muttered, "_Lumos_."

Following the tingle of magic into his core, just like he had earlier, Harry focused on the black blot surrounding the golden orb of his magic and pulled. Nothing happened. Opening his eyes, he shrugged at the assembled audience.

"Try again, Harry," the Headmaster called, "Perhaps with a little more power."

Nodding, he cast Lumos again and reached back down into his core. Harry gathered every bit of strength he had in him, clenched his fist and _pulled_ at the blackness. There was a great explosion and Harry felt heat rip through his body. When he opened his eyes, he saw the dome Dumbledore had erected was gone and the stones in the floor that it had covered had been _liquefied_. His audience had been pushed back a few metres, looking a little windswept and for some reason were floating about three feet high in the air.

"Uh, Harry? Want to let us down, mate?" Ron asked and Harry instinctively reached out with his hand and lowered them back down to the floor. Once they touched down, he looked at his hand a little perplexedly. Had he just used wandless magic?

"Well," the Headmaster said, "That was a little unexpected."

"I'm sorry, Professor, about the floor," Harry said, unsure of what else he could say.

"Not at all, my boy," the Headmaster said with a smile, "We can get that fixed up with not a problem at all. I think we will, however, have to start training you in wandless magic," the old mage said, glancing pointedly at Harry's hands. "Anna, Remus, I believe you both took preliminary courses in wandless magic in your seventh years?"

They both nodded.

"Then perhaps you can begin instructing Harry during the holidays. When he returns to Hogwarts, I will take over his lessons and coach him in a more advanced fashion." As Remus and Anna nodded again, Dumbledore moved a little closer to Harry. "This is a good thing, Harry," he said softly, with his usual omniscience, "This will give you the advantage you need. Work hard on this for the rest of the holidays."

"I will, Professor."

"We should get back to Grimmauld Place," Remus said and the small group moved through Hogwarts and back through the fireplace in the Headmaster's Office.

"I'll get us something for lunch," Anna said once they'd arrived in the gloomy basement kitchen. "There's some lasagne left over from last night." As she moved over to the pantry, Anna brushed her hand over Harry's shoulder. "Are you alright? You've hardly spoken."

He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay…

"Well, dig in everybody."

It was a little bit surreal. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours – Voldemort attacking Azkaban, Pettigrew being found and now this discovery that Harry's magic had never been at full capacity – there was so much to talk about, and here they all were, calmly and silently eating reheated lasagne.

"Well," Remus said eventually, as if he too couldn't quite figure out where to start.

Harry thought he'd better throw him a bone; "I don't understand this wandless magic stuff, I thought every wizard needed a wand."

As Remus went to answer, so did Hermione. With a wry grin, the werewolf gestured to the Gryffindor; "Why don't you tell us what you know, Hermione, and we'll fill in the rest."

"Okay, well, I know that a wizard doesn't really need a wand to do magic, nor does a wizard have to say a word like '_Lumos'_ for light to appear."

Ron frowned; "Really?"

Hermione nodded and continued; "Wands are just focusing objects that channel the magic out of the body. You need a lot of focus and intent to cast spells and so theorists thought that saying words and doing certain movements would help a caster. It's actually kind of limiting though… And wizards and witches haven't always used wands – in fact, some magical people in Asia use hand movements. Before wands, staffs were used and before staffs, it's believed that the ancient magicians used amulets – artefacts have been found in Greece, Mespotamia…"

"Hermione, you're like an encyclopaedia," Ron said with a wry grin, "You know something about everything."

She blushed; "Not _everything_."

"Most things at least," Anna laughed, "Wandless magic is taught at Hogwarts in Seventh Year as a recommended extension class to those the faculty think will be able to manage it, but there isn't much practical work to the course."

"Most wizards can't use wandless magic," Remus said, "Or at least can't use it beyond quite simple tasks, such as moving things, giving light, etcetera, or in life-and-death type situations, where adrenaline and desperation make it easier."

"And how do you do it?" Harry asked.

"Like Hermione said, it takes a lot of focus, which is why a lot of people can't do it – most of them can't be bothered training their mind when they can just use a wand."

"I think you're already half way there, Harry," Anna said, scratching the ears of Nimue the cat, who had settled contentedly on her lap. "You've gotten really good at Occlumency and it's the same kind of thing."

"So when do we start?"

Remus looked at Anna and shrugged.

"This afternoon? Hermione, Ron, you should join in."

Hermione's face lit up.

"Really! That'd be fantastic, wouldn't it Ron."

The redhead looked a little dubious.

"If you say so."

_**-------------------------**_

Harry groaned and collapsed onto his bed. They'd been practising wandless magic all day and night and all Harry had to show for it was a piercing headache in his temples. He and the others hadn't been successful at all, though at one point he'd managed to hover a book two inches off a table for all of about ten seconds. Remus and Anna assured them that it took a long while to master even the smallest form of wandless magic and that eventually they'd get the hang of it, but Harry doubted this.

Just as he was pulling off his shoes and preparing to go to bed, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Harry, it's Remus. Do you mind if I come in a moment?"

"Sure."

The door opened and the werewolf entered, holding a large, wrapped box in his arms.

"May I sit?"

"Of course."

Both Remus and Harry sat on the bed, legs dangling off the edge.

"I was going to give this to you last night, Harry," Remus said, tapping the box with his hands, "It was meant to be a gift for you from Sirius, for your birthday. He'd been planning it for a few months before… before he died."

Remus handed Harry the package and after a brief, wavering moment of hesitation, the Gryffindor unwrapped the paper and opened the box.

"A Pensieve," Harry said, tracing the engraved, stoned dish with his fingers. "What are these?"

Remus took one of the vials from Harry. There were five in total, and each held a thick, silvery substance.

"Memories," the werewolf answered. "Mine, Sirius'… some of the teachers from Hogwarts contributed as well."

"Memories of what?"

"Your parents. Sirius thought maybe you were getting tired of just hearing stories. I think Anna even convinced Snape to add a couple of memories… you know he and Lily were good friends."

Harry hardly registered that last part, completely and totally aware of nothing but the treasure in his hands.

"I'll leave you alone with it."

Before Remus got to the door, Harry called his name.

"Thank you, Remus."

The werewolf turned and nodded before leaving the room. Hands trembling, Harry poured the first vial into the stone dish and dived in.


	9. Come to Me

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews all. Enjoy the chapter :) Also, Sirius is coming.

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Eight: 

_**Come to me in my dreams, and then  
By day I shall be well again!  
For then the night will more than pay  
The hopeless longing of the day.**_

**- **_**Longing**_**, Matthew Arnold**

Anna was hovering on the edge of waking and sleep, trying desperately to delay the moment that she would wake completely. She was tired, _so_ tired, yet everyday she managed to face the sun with a smile and a laugh. She hated pretending like that, but knew in her heart of hearts that for Remus and Harry to get over Sirius' death, she needed to have the appearance of doing the same, no matter how hard it was.

Clinging to the last tentacles of sleep, Anna let out a frustrated sigh when a cool hand on her face woke her. Opening her eyes, she was startled to see dove grey eyes staring down at her.

"Sirius."

He smiled and nodded, his hand caressing her cheek.

"But you died."

"No, I didn't," he answered, his gravely voice sending a shiver down Anna's spine. "I'm right here."

As if to prove it, he moved forward and ducked his head to meet Anna's lips with a searing kiss. She scrunched her fingers up in his shirt and pulled him closer - as close as he could get to her - and opened her lips underneath his mouth. He was hot and smooth and setting her on fire, just like she imagined him; just like she _remembered_ him.

"I love you, I love you," she murmured, pressing the words into him with kisses, "Don't ever leave me."

But he was already gone, vanished from her entirely. She raised a hand to her lips. They were cold.

_**-------------------------**_

When she awoke it was with a gasp and his name caught in her throat. Anna ran a hand through her hair and sighed, wiping at the few tears which had leaked from her eyes.

"I hate this," she mumbled and then ripped the covers of her bed and dressed hurriedly, as if the forceful, angry movements would wipe away her sadness. She stormed (quietly, though, because it was early and people were still sleeping) downstairs into the kitchen and with a swift jerk of her wand conjured a cup of steaming, strong coffee. She knew she should calm down, drink some tea, maybe meditate a bit, but for the moment Anna was happy to stew in her anger at what the world had thrown at her these last few months.

Her inner tirade was interrupted, however, by the morning owl that regularly delivered the _Daily Prophet_. Taking the newspaper, she payed the bird and opened up the spread. The headline hit her like a sucker punch to the gut.

_**SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT!**_

_**Peter Pettigrew alive and guilty! **_

_Three days ago He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked the Wizarding prison Azkaban and released into our world some of his most dangerous criminals. It has now been confirmed, however, that one of those dangerous criminals apprehended during the fighting is none other than Peter Pettigrew; a man considered a hero in the Wizarding community and thought dead by all. When found, Pettigrew was taken into custody by the Ministry and an investigation led by Amelia Bones was put underway. The results of this investigation are now being made public. _

_By use of Veritaserum, it has been uncovered that it was Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black, who murdered thirteen people on November 1__st__, 1981. Since that date, Pettigrew has been in hiding, laying in wait for his true master – He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – to return. _

_Further inquiry into the imprisonment of Sirius Black later revealed that Black had been arrested and gaoled without any form of an official (or informal) trial being held and was thus incarcerated at Azkaban for twelve years, an innocent man. This has caused absolute uproar in the Ministry of Magic and a formal inspection of all judicial matters presided over by the late Bartemious Crouch is now underway. _

_Unfortunately, it seems that this unearthing is too late for Sirius Black who, according to Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, was killed only a few short months ago during the infamous attack on the Ministry of Magic in which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself was present. Black, Dumbledore claims, was there defending his godson, Harry Potter, from harm and was killed in doing so. _

"_My condolences go out to the friends and family of Sirius Black," said the interim Madame of Magic, Amelia Bones, "Black has been completely exonerated and restitution will be given to his estate for his time served as an innocent man. This whole affair is no doubt terrifically upsetting to all involved, especially considering the late-coming of this acquittal." _

_Peter Pettigrew now stands to serve a sentence for mass murder, conspiracy to commit murder, being an unregistered animagus, aiding and abetting a wanted criminal and finally for his affiliation with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. _

It was too much. With this, Anna had reached the end of her tether and began crying, head bent over the table with her forehead resting in her hand.

This was how Remus found her a few minutes later, crying quietly and without fuss into her coffee cup. He moved toward her and pulled her up out of her chair and into a hug. She leant into him, grateful for a friend, but she couldn't stop herself from wishing that it was another man's embrace.

_**-------------------------**_

"Careful, Hermione!"

The bushy-haired teen laughed and cried; "Just in time!"

It was a week after the _Prophet_ article about Wormtail and Sirius and the residents of Grimmauld Place were gathered in the airy sun room, playing an improvised game of ball. The rules were a little different though, as this game of ball didn't allow the players to use their hands. Instead, they would use wandless magic to send the ball to one another; Anna and Remus maintained it was a good way to practise and it was also pretty fun.

Carefully hovering the ball in front of her, Hermione asked, "Favourite book?" and sent the ball towards Remus.

"_A Tale of Two Cities_," he answered.

"How British," Anna commented with a smirk.

To make the game a little more interesting, the group had decided to ask a question with each pass of the ball.

"Middle name," Remus asked as he hovered the ball over to Anna.

"Josephine," she said and sent it, a little speedily, to Harry. "Would you rather… take a bath in a tub of baked beans or jelly?"

Everyone laughed.

"What flavour is the jelly?" Harry asked, stopping the ball with Quidditch-honed reflexes.

"Um… raspberry."

"I think I'd go with the jelly then," Harry decided.

"Really?" Hermione queried.

Harry nodded, "Think about it. If you had to take a bath covered in baked beans you'd end up smelling like tomato sauce… but if you took a bath in jelly it'd be more like raspberry flavoured sugar."

"Sound reasoning, Harry," Remus said sagely.

Just as Harry was passing the ball to Ron, a question on his lips, there was a loud crash downstairs.

Ron rolled his eyes; "Ten sickles says that's Tonks."

"I wouldn't take that bet," Anna laughed, just as Tonks' slightly exasperated voice came floating up the stairs.

"Sorry! That bloody umbrella stand is _always_ in the way!"

Ron and Harry snickered, shooting furtive glances at each other.

"You didn't!" Hermione hissed, "That's so mean!" But she was smiling.

"What's so mean?" Tonks asked from the doorway. Her hair was fire-engine red today.

"Nothing," five voices chorused back.

Tonks raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"How about we set up for the Order meeting?" Anna suggested and soon they were all busy downstairs, setting out chairs in the kitchen. Harry was directing a chair into place using just his mind. Wandless magic was becoming easier and easier; it seemed that once he tapped into it, anything was possible. "Very good, Harry," Anna commented from where she was directing chairs, _with _a wand. "Why don't you try two at once?"

Harry nodded and grinned when two chairs rose smoothly from the messy pile they were in and settled with a clunk on the kitchen floor. He was rewarded with a smile from Anna.

"So what's on the agenda tonight?" the young Gryffindor asked. Now that Harry was able to attend Order meetings, Anna and Remus felt no reluctance in discussing matters in front of the three students; they knew that Harry would just tell Ron and Hermione everything anyway, even though they weren't allowed in the meetings.

"Well, as we decided last week, it's time the Order stopped biding its time," Remus answered, "I think tonight we're going to discuss various plans of attack, that sort of thing."

"And have you found out anything about McArthur or Tibbons that can get them out of the Wizengamot?" Harry asked Tonks.

"Well, it's been hard to have any spare time at all, what with cleaning up after Azkaban," the Auror answered, "But I think we've got enough to get rid of Tibbons."

"Yeah?"

"Well, we have enough to threaten him into silence and if he doesn't comply, enough to put him in gaol. That will strip him of his seat in the Wizengamot."

"Do you think you'll be able to get a majority vote then?" Hermione asked.

"I'd say so," Remus said, "But we have to do this all very quickly; we don't want to give Voldemort time to find another pawn within the Ministry."

"And Amelia Bones will become Madame of Magic, officially?" Ron inquired.

"Probably," the werewolf replied, "She's the best for the job."

"It won't be long now," Anna said quietly.

"Until what?"

Anna locked eyes with Harry as she answered him; "Until this war starts for real. Voldemort made the first move with Azkaban; it won't take long for a follow-up."

_**-------------------------**_

When Harry entered the kitchen with Ron and Hermione a few days later, he started and quickly fished his wand out of his pocket when he saw an unfamiliar blonde woman flipping pancakes at the stove.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The woman turned and rolled her eyes.

"Harry, put your wand away."

"Anna?" Hermione asked.

She nodded. Her mouth and the basic shape of her face was the same, but her hair was light blonde and furiously curly, her eyes slightly wider and blue instead of brown and her nose had been lengthened and narrowed.

"What's with the disguise?" Ron questioned as they sat down at the kitchen table.

"Your Hogwarts letters are coming today; Remus, Tonks and I are going to take you three to Diagon Alley for your things."

"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed. He'd be glad to get out of Grimmauld Place, if only for the day. Hermione, however, had gone extremely pale.

"Hogwarts letters," she muttered, "But that means O.W.L results are coming! Anna, why didn't you tell me!" she cried.

"Because if I had you'd have been thinking of nothing else the last few days," Anna replied. "You probably would've torn all your hair out in anxiety."

Ron muffled his laugh behind his hand.

"Oh Merlin, here they come!" Hermione shrieked, pointing at the window. Waving her wand, Anna opened the window and allowed the three official-looking owls to enter. Catching the envelope before it dropped in his breakfast, Harry felt his stomach drop. He didn't want to know what he'd gotten! He knew his results would be terrible.

"On three, Harry?" Ron said quietly, looking over at Hermione who was already tearing into the letter, hyperventilating slightly as she did.

"Okay… One, two, three!"

It wasn't as bad as it could've been. In fact, it wasn't too bad at all.

"How'd you do?" Ron asked.

"I failed Divination and History of Magic - no surprises there," he answered, "But I got an A in Astronomy, Es in Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Charms and Os in Potions and DADA."

"An O in Potions! Good job, Harry," Ron replied. "But now you're stuck with Snape for another two years."

"What about you, Ron?"

"I failed Divination and Astronomy, got As in Care of Magical Creatures and Charms, and Es in everything else."

Harry nodded; "Well done." Both boys turned to Hermione, who was staring blankly at the page. "Well?" Harry asked her hesitantly.

She looked up at them; "I did okay." Weakly, she held the parchment out to them. Ron took it and held it where both he and Harry could read it. Ron snorted.

"Just 'okay'? Hermione, you got ten Os!"

"Yes, but just an Exceeds Expectations in Defense," she mumbled.

"Cheer up, Hermione!" Anna said, "They're excellent results! In fact, I'd wager they're the best results anyone has gotten from Hogwarts in a while."

"Really?" Hermione asked, her face relaxing a little.

"Really," Anna answered and rifled through Hermione's envelope. "See here? It's a letter from Professor McGonagall. Read it!"

After carefully reading the letter, Hermione's face broke out in a proud smile.

"Well?"

"Best results in quite a while," she said, "Since Remus, it says."

"Good job, Hermione," Harry told her.

She smiled and asked to borrow Hedwig to send a letter to her parents. Once she had left and Ron had stuck his head into the fireplace to speak to his own parents, Harry turned to Anna.

"How did you do in your OWLs?"

She exhaled through her lips and furrowed her brow; "Merlin, it's hard to remember! I got a few Os, in Potions, Charms and Astronomy and an Acceptable in Transfiguration (which Professor McGonagall never let me forget) and Es in everything else."

"Good results," Harry surmised.

"Yeah, I was happy with them." Finishing off her coffee, Anna gestured to the letter. "Make sure you get the list of things you need, we'll head off to Diagon Alley soon; not long till you kids go off to Hogwarts."

"Not long till we finish Hogwarts," Harry said a little sadly, realising that his time at the first place he'd been able to call home was almost over.

Anna ruffled his hair.

"You've still got a few years left. Who knows, maybe you can finish your father's good work and turn the rest of Professor McGonagall's hair grey."

Harry nodded and laughed.

"I'll go upstairs and get my things."

She smiled.

"I'll be here."

_**-------------------------**_

"You've packed everything, Harry?"

"I'm pretty sure I have," Harry told Remus.

"Well, we can send anything you've forgotten. We should get going."

Harry nodded. Slowly but surely, September 1st had crept up on them and Remus, Mad-Eye, Tonks and Bill were escorting Harry to Kings Cross to board the Hogwarts Express. Anna wouldn't be coming.

Harry turned to her now. Without saying anything, she drew him into a long, warm embrace.

"I'm going to miss you."

"You'll see me soon," Harry replied as they stepped apart from each other, "You're coming to Hogwarts for Occlumency lessons."

"I know, but I'll still miss you."

"Alright, time to go," Mad-Eye barked.

"Beat it, kid," Anna grinned. "Have a good year at school!"

"See you soon, Anna."

He looked back as he got onto the street. Anna was standing in the doorway. She smiled and waved, just as Number 12 disappeared into the houses around it.


	10. For You

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N:** Hey. Please review! Haven't been getting many, I'm losing faith. Maybe the age of HPFF is gone?

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Nine: 

_**Let me take some of the punches **_

_**For you tonight**_

_** - Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own, **_**U2 **

_**New Minister Elected!**_

_**Amelia Bones to Reshape the Ministry of Magic!**_

_After weeks of confusion, our elected leaders have finally been able to select a new Minister of Magic to replace Cornelius Fudge. Yesterday, during yet another meeting to discuss the vote for a new leader, Aurors arrived to take into custody Richard Tibbons, who was been accused of high treason by way of consorting with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._

_Almost immediately after, leader of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore called to vote. Amelia Bones won the vote by a clear landslide and was officially sworn in as Minister for Magic only moments later. _

_In a press conference yesterday evening, Minister Bones declared her intention to completely rework and redefine the Ministry of Magic; "Our government has become stifled by corruption and the prejudices of pure-blooded leaders. It is time to wipe the slate clean and start anew."_

_Minister Bones aims to select the members of her cabinet throughout the next week. When asked how she will approach the looming threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Bones responded that it was an issue she intends to tackle with determination. "We are a country at war," she said, "There's no point denying that any more. You-Know-Who and his followers are increasing, he is gathering forces already in his efforts to take over the Wizarding World and as a community we must band together to stop his rise."_

_More information on page four._

"Well," Hermione said with a frown, "I suppose that's something."

"Anyone is better than Fudge," Harry muttered.

It was the Monday of their second week back at Hogwarts and Hermione had been reading aloud the front page of the _Prophet_, which had become a tradition in the last little while.

"Agreed," Ron chimed in, "Imagine if Umbridge had been made Minister!"

Harry shuddered; "I'd rather not."

"I wonder what Dad thinks about it all," Ron said a few minutes later as they made their way to their first class of the day.

Just what Mr. Weasley thought of the new Minister of Magic became clear when Errol, the family owl, flew through the Gryffindor Common Room that night.

"Hey Ginny," Ron called across the room, "Mail from Dad."

The fifth year extricated herself from her friends and came to sit by Hermione. Ron began reading from the parchment.

"'Kids," he read, "By now I'm sure you've both heard the news that Amelia Bones has finally been elected Minister of Magic and has begun to reorganise the Ministry. I thought I would tell you both this in person, rather than letting you find out by the _Daily Prophet_ tomorrow, but the new Minister has decided she would like me to fill the post of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that she has left vacated. Of course, I have accepted. This position will of course put myself and our family in the spotlight and so in more danger but I feel it is important for the Order and for myself personally to take over this role.

Your mother and I hope you and your friends are well,

Love, Dad.'"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Wow!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly. "This is brilliant!" She leapt across to Ron and gave him a tight hug. "Isn't it?"

Slowly, a wide grin appeared on Ron's face.

"Yeah it is, fantastic! Finally he's getting some of the recognition he deserves, I reckon he would've been head years ago if not for bloody Fudge."

"Language, Ron," Hermione scolded, but she was smiling. "Congratulations!"

"This is great," Harry said earnestly, "You're dad will do it brilliantly."

"You should write back and congratulate him," Hermione urged.

Ron nodded and leant down to his school bag. Before even opening it though, he looked back at Hermione ruefully. She was already holding a piece of blank parchment and a quill in her hand.

"You're the best. Hermione!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Aren't you going to be late for Occlumency, Harry?"

"Damn! Thanks, Hermione!"

Patting her on the shoulder, Harry took off out of the common room and jogged to the Room of Requirement. Anna had arranged to meet Harry there once a week until she was sure he needed no more help defending his mind. By the time the holidays had ended, Harry had built a solid wall around his mind, but Anna could still breach it with a bit of force. Tonight though, he wanted to try something different.

Anna was waiting for him when he arrived.

"Sorry I'm late!"

"No matter," she smiled, giving him a quick one-armed hug. "How is school going?"

"Okay," he answered, "Our new Defense teacher is okay, he's not as good as Remus though."

"Of course he's not!" she replied with a grin. "Now, get ready. _Legilimins_!"

He could feel her penetrating his mind, her presence was hard and demanding, impossible to ignore. She reached his wall quickly and after about half a minute of pushing, broke through into his memories.

"You're definitely improving, Harry," she said, lifting her wand. "Again. Legi -"

"Wait a sec," Harry said, stopping her mid-spell. "Can you give me a moment? I want to try something new."

Anna nodded, curious. Harry focused intently for few moments, determined to make this new idea work like he imagined it would.

"Okay, go."

"_Legilimins_!"

This time she whispered it and her presence in his mind was just that, a whisper. Anna often changed her approach to his mind, she said it would prepare him for all kinds of attacks. They stood in silence for almost three whole minutes before she cracked through to his memories.

"Very good, Harry," Anna said once she'd withdrawn from his memories. "Did you read about that approach in one of the books we gave you?"

Harry nodded. Anna and Remus had gifted him with a number of books on Occlumency for his birthday and he had been eagerly reading through them. One of the more obscure tomes discussed various visualisations that could better defend the mind. It had given him an idea.

"Talk me through it, Harry."

With a thought, two comfy chairs and a coffee table appeared in the room. They sat.

"Well," he began, "You know how you keep saying it's all about visualising an unbreakable wall? And building on from that? Like, in your mind you have dozens of walls and the last one is the strongest?"

She nodded and waved her hand for him to continue.

"Well, I was thinking… do they have to be walls? Why not a maze?"

Anna grinned. "Inspiration from the Triwizard Tournament, perhaps?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a smile. "But do you think it'll work?"

She thought for a moment.

"I don't see why not," she replied eventually, "But you'll have to be sure that every wall is completely unbreakable, so as to stop someone from simply breaking through everything into the centre."

"Okay. I was thinking of getting even more complex. For example, at the end of every passage could be a giant stone door and maybe I could set traps like a pretend memory or just a harmless memory to disorient whoever is trying to get in and… and maybe even a moat!"

Anna laughed; "One step at a time, kiddo! Let's just start mapping out this fortress of yours." With a flick of her wand, a large sheet of parchment and a pencil appeared. They got to work.

_**-------------------------**_

The next day, as Harry was leaving Potions, a very small Hufflepuff tugged on his robes and said, "Excuse me," in a very high voice.

Harry looked down and said, "Can I help you?"

The young boy took in a deep breath and then almost shouted in one great rush, "Mr-I-mean-Headmaster-Dumbledore-asked-me-to-tell-you-that-he-wants-you-to-meet-him-in-his-office-tonight-after-dinner-and-that-he-really—really-likes-chocolate-frogs-or-maybe-it-was-chocolate-toads-or-maybe-tadpoles-I'm-sorry-I-don't-remember!"

"Um, thanks, I think I caught that," Harry said, grinning as Ron guffawed and Hermione smacked the back of his head with a stern frown. The first-year stared at Harry for a few more moments before remembering himself and running up the dungeon stairs.

"Do you think Dumbledore is going to start your wandless magic training?" Ron asked quietly as they sat down to dinner.

Harry shrugged; "I guess I'll find out."

A short while later, Harry was standing at the bottom of Dumbledore's office.

"Chocolate frogs," he told the gargoyle.

It didn't move.

"Um, chocolate toads?"

Nothing happened.

"It can't be chocolate tadpoles!"

Harry laughed as the gargoyle jumped aside and allowed him entry. Professor Dumbledore's office looked the same as always, minus the few ornaments he had shattered in rage during his last visit.

"Ah, Harry! Come in, come in. Take a seat."

"Good evening, Professor," he greeted as he sat down.

"Good evening, Harry." The old mage was sitting behind his desk, his fingers steepled together under his chin. "Of course, you know why you are here; to continue the training Remus and Anna began whilst you were staying at Grimmauld Place. I thought we might start with a demonstration of what you have achieved so far." He motioned to a pile of quills arranged on his desk. "Please lift as many of these as you can."

With a wave of his hand, the entire stack of quills rose neatly in the air.

Dumbledore's eye twinkled. "You may lower them. Now, can you do that again without using your hand?"

This was only slightly trickier. Remus had explain that hand movements were much like wand movements, they focused magical energy into action. Keeping his hands in his lap, Harry directed his emerald eyes to the heap of quills. They slowly rose to the air.

The Headmaster clapped his hands together.

"Very good, Harry! Perhaps I need to give you a bit more of a challenge. Come to the window."

The moved to one of the wide, arched windows in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore took Harry's book bag and with a wave of his wand, it disappeared from the office entirely.

"You're bag is now somewhere in the grounds of the school. Please summon it."

Harry's eyebrows raised of his own accord. He hadn't done anything like this with Remus or Anna, only simple levitations and light spells. Focusing on his bag, picturing it in his mind clearly, Harry thought, _Accio_! They waited a few moments, but nothing happened.

"May I say the words, Professors?"

"You may."

"_Accio_!"

Sure enough, a whistling noise soon reached their ears and Harry's bag flew through his window and into his arms.

"Very good, now, again Harry but this time with hand movements, no words."

They continued in this way for about an hour, with Harry performing Summoning spells on various objects by various means until he could summon whatever Dumbledore asked from the Hogwarts grounds by his mind, hands or words only.

"Unless you have any objections, Harry, I think we will meet at this time every week. Next week, I think we might find an empty classroom and begin Conjuring but please meet here first."

"Yes, Professor."

"In the meantime, please continue practicing on your own. When you feel the need to cast a spell, attempt to do it wandlessly, by any of the methods we've used tonight. In class as well, attempt what you're learning wandlessly as well as nonverbally."

"Yes, Professor."

Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled again. "You are doing very well, my boy. I don't think it will take long until you have mastered wandless magic and can begin to use it defensively."

"I hope, Professor, that you can teach me to use it _offensively_ as well."

The Headmaster sighed and some of the twinkle left his eye.

"I'm afraid I might have to, before the end."

_**-------------------------**_

Anna stretched her pale hands above her head and gave a yawn. Rolling out of bed, she grabbed her dressing gown from a hook on the back of the door and strode out of the room, wearily rubbing sleep from her eyes. As she descended the stairs to the basement kitchen, there was a loud _crash!_, like the sound of a plate being broken. Swiftly removing her wand from the pocket of her robe, she pushed the door to the kitchen open and readied herself to cast a spell.

There was only Remus, however. He was facing away from her with hunched shoulders, tightly grasping the counter with his hands. A few metres away from him were a few pieces of broken china, as if the plate had been hurled with some force.

A question was on the tip of her tongue but then she remembered; it was Halloween. Silently, she crossed the kitchen to Remus, careful not to step on any broken shards of china, and wrapped her long arms around his torso, resting her cheek against his back.

"I hate this day," he said quietly, and Anna nodded against him.

After a long while, Remus turned in her arms and properly accepted her embrace.

She didn't leave him that day, instead they sat together – reading, just thinking or watching the television – but mostly silent.


	11. Return: Run to Me

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N: **Another update for you! Thanks to those who reviewed. As for the questions about Remus/Anna, yes they did get quite close there but considering they live together, have similar personalities and interests and both shared an awful loss I think it's quite possible that they became very good friends. Perhaps they might even have become lovers, if the following didn't happen. Thanks again.**  
**

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

**Things Between People**

By katemary77

Chapter Ten: 

**What comes is better than what came before**

**You better run, run, run to me. **

_I Found a Reason_, Cat Power

November passed in a flurry of classes, homework, carefully monitored trips to Hogsmeade and increasingly chilly weather. Before Harry and the others knew it, Christmas had come and they were boarding the Hogwarts Express to journey back to London. Grimmauld Place would be full this year. The Weasleys had planned to stay in London for the break, not only to keep Harry, Remus and Anna company but for the increased security as well, and Hermione would come to stay the day after Boxing Day; she'd chosen to spend some time with her family.

"Harry!" The young Gryffindor turned at the sound of Remus' voice. He, Mrs. Weasley and Mad-Eye were waiting on the platform.

Harry and his friends made their way over to the Order members, happily enduring welcoming hugs and pats on the back.

"Hermione, I've arranged to drop you at your parents myself," Remus explained to the bushy-haired prefect. When you're ready, I'll Apparate us there."

Hermione hugged Harry and the Weasleys and with a, "See you in a few days!" took Remus' arm.

"Back in a jiffy!" Remus said, before turning slightly and Apparating away with a _pop_! Sure enough, he was back in a minute and the group leisurely made their way from the station and to number twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Harry!"

The front door had barely opened before Harry found himself with an armful of Anna.

"Anna, I saw you just last week," he spluttered.

"Oh, posh," she replied, taking him by the shoulders. "Let me look at you! Harry, you've grown!"

Harry rolled his eyes and patted her on the back.

"You're mad," he said with a laugh. "Come on, we're blocking the doorway."

Anna had a pot of tea stewing in the kitchen, so they magicked their trunks upstairs and settled down around the dining table.

"So, kids, how was school?"

_**-------------------------**_

Christmas passed quietly, as did New Years Eve. The celebrations seemed much more subdued to Harry, probably because of the glaring absence of Sirius, he reasoned. He and Anna continued to practice Occlumency, taking advantage of the extra time to further build upon his mental barriers. Any enemy attempting to penetrate the mind of Harry Potter would now have to bypass a complex maze made of the hardest, impenetrable stone, interrupted only by solid, unopenable doors. In the middle of this fortress stood a mighty wall, behind which rested his garden – the centre of his mind. He and Anna were now considering adding made-up or harmless memories to his defences; they would float outside of the maze, giving the penetrator the illusion that they had entered his mind.

"You know Harry, I think maybe it's time we had Professor Snape have a go at you," Anna said after their latest session.

Harry blanched; "Do we have to?"

She laughed.

"I've gotten pretty used to your mind, Harry, I think it's be good to have a neutral party attempt Legilimency on you. Besides, Professor Snape is much more proficient at Legilimency than I am."

Harry sighed; "Okay, I'll do it. As long as you're there."

Anna nodded, "Of course. If Severus is satisfied, it might be time to end your training."

Harry felt a little sad at that. He'd come to enjoy this time spent with Anna, even though it wasn't spent in the best of ways. Of course, Anna felt that sadness and came over to ruffle his hair.

"Come on, let's join the others downstairs."

As Anna got started on dinner, without giving time for Mrs. Weasley to protest, Harry plopped down next to Remus at the kitchen table.

"So Harry," the older man started, "I still haven't been given a demonstration of how your wandless magic skills have improved under Professor Dumbledore's tutelage."

Harry grinned. Startling Anna, a drawer of cutlery shot out, knives forks and spoons flying into the air to form the words, 'Hello Moony!' Vanishing them from the air, Harry then Conjured them back onto the table in front of he and Remus, where he Transfigured each one into a different coloured flower. Summoning a vase from upstairs, he waved a hand and the flowers arranged themselves into a bouquet, which he then floated over to Anna. She rolled her eyes and accepted the vase. As soon as her hands touched the glass, the flowers inside turned back to cutlery. She pouted, but was appeased when Harry waved his hand again, causing the cutlery to organise itself into place along the table.

The Weasleys clapped, along with Anna, Remus and Hermione.

"Very impressive, Harry!" Remus applauded. "Transfiguring those flowers into different breeds and colours at the same time was very advanced."

Harry shrugged. "Ever since we took that block off over summer, things that used to be hard have become a lot easier."

Ron snorted, "Yeah, and it's had Hermione fretting her pretty head off, Harry might even get better results than her!"

Hermione looked as if she couldn't decide on whether she was upset at what Ron had said about her results or flattered that he'd called her pretty.

Anna placed a steaming bowl of spaghetti Bolognese on the table and smirked at Harry.

"Yes, very good Harry," she said, "Except you set the table wrong. Desert spoons go on the _inside_."

_**-------------------------**_

_She was on a battlefield. Lucius Malfoy was standing before her, Hermione trapped in his arms. He held a sickeningly familiar blade to her throat and the young Gryffindor was trying bravely not to cry, knowing it would only feed the sadistic man's pleasure. _

"_All you've fought for is for nothing, Arianna, the people that you will love will die."_

_She noticed then at his feet the crumpled body of Severus Snape. His wand arm was broken, the bone visibly piercing his skin. His neck was slit open and blood was leaking from his vacant, dead eyes. _

"_He is not the only one. There are others," Lucius reminded her, squeezing the girl in his arms for emphasis. "You know what you must do."_

"_It won't work," Anna sobbed, "I can't force myself to make that choice, you know that! And you can't make it for me! Please just let them go."_

_And then, suddenly, somehow, Sirius was there with Harry following close behind him. _

"_Stupefy!" he yelled, pointing his wand at Malfoy. _

_The Death Eater angled Hermione in front of him just in time and she slumped over in his arms. The movement caused the knife Lucius held at her neck to cut a thin line into her skin. _

"_Hermione!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy's wand was already raising, pointing at Sirius as he yelled, "Avada Kedavra!"_

_Anna felt herself moving, saw the green light rocketing towards the man she loved and had already lost once and then everything went dark._

She awoke with a gasp. Grasping blindly at her bedside table, Anna eventually found her wand and whispered the demand for light. Blinking her eyes at the sudden glow, she turned to her clock and groaned. Just about four in the morning! Sighing, Anna stumbled out of bed, intent on some tea to carry her back to sleep. Climbing down the stairs, she lurched for a moment, a sudden weight dropping into her heart. What had happened? Blinking, dazed, she stood for a moment before shaking her shoulders out and continuing downstairs.

"Remus!" she said, surprised to see him sipping tea already at the kitchen table.

He looked up, his hand absently massaging his chest, just above his heart. "Couldn't sleep either?"

Anna shook her head, "No, a dream woke me up. Well, more like a nightmare really."

He poured her a cup of chamomile tea and passed it to her. "Want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "Not really. Here, pass me your cup. This will help you sleep." He did as he was told and watched as she wrapped her hands around the steaming mugs, focused for a moment, and handed his tea back. "There."

Accepting the cup, Remus took a sip and felt an unexplainable wash of calm soothe over him. "Thanks Anna."

"Not a problem. Would you like me to sit with you?" she offered.

"No, that's okay. You go back to bed. Thanks, though."

She departed with a smile and left him to his thoughts.

_**-------------------------**_

At that very time, not so far away from Grimmauld Place and far beneath central London, something was stirring. Deep in the Ministry of Magic, down long corridors and further than many were permitted to venture stood a tall stone arch, shrouded by a dark, slightly swaying sheet of fabric. All at once, a high-pitched explosion sounded from inside the archway and rocked the arena it stood in. Hairline cracks appeared on the stone tablets that made up the podium and a dark-haired body passed through the almost transparent cloth and back into our world.

Gasping for breath, he opened pale grey eyes and studied the room he was in, his mouth pulling into a frown. When had he last been here? On the one hand it felt as if he and the other Order members had arrived at the Ministry of Magic only a few minutes ago, that it had only been a moment since he had separated from Anna, half of his heart yearning to keep her safe and the other half pressing him on to find Harry. But despite this, he somehow felt as if he had gone a long while, had been falling through that dark abyss for an age.

The room was empty, no signs of fighting or a struggle apparent, which reinforced his feeling that some time had passed. Hoping it hadn't been _too_ long, Sirius swiftly morphed into Padfoot – aware he was a wanted criminal in the heart of the Ministry – and began to trot out of the Department of Mysteries. All the corridors were empty and silent. Perhaps it was after-hours? he considered. At the Atrium this was confirmed; a large clock mounted high on the wall told him it was four in the morning. But what was the _date_? Bounding over to a nearby rack of _Daily Prophet_s, he used his mouth to pull a copy down and let out a doggy whine when he saw the date. January 7th. He'd been gone for months!

With no time to waste, Sirius quickly padded over to the public telephone box that granted the public access to the Ministry and activated the elevator. Once on the streets of central London he broke into a fast sprint. Even so early, the city wasn't completely dead; bright street lights glowed overhead, taxis drove down the empty streets and every other corner Sirius would glimpse a paper boy delivering his load.

He wasn't running fast enough! He had to know what had happened. Was Harry safe? Had anything happened to Remus or Anna during that fight? And what about Harry's friends? Anna had said they were seriously injured, what if somebody hadn't recovered? Sirius urged his legs into a faster sprint and soon he was slowing down in front of 12 Grimmauld Place. Morphing back into human form, Sirius repeated 'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix reside at number twelve Grimmauld Place,' and watched as numbers ten and fourteen were pushed aside to make room for his hated family home.

Not wasting time for the pang that touched him at the sight, Sirius bounded up the stairs, grasped the black wooden handle of the front door and pushed it open.

_**-------------------------**_

Not half an hour after Anna left him with her doctored tea, Remus found himself wondering if Anna had gone back to bed at all, for he felt sure he'd just heard the front door of Grimmauld Place open. Deciding that caution was best, the werewolf set down his tea and took his wand up in his hand, climbing silently to the top of the stairs. There was a dark figure in the foyer. Remus tapped the wall with his wand, causing the lights overhead to flash on.

The sight that greeted Remus almost but not quite completely disarmed him. Only a second after startled grey eyes met his, Remus' wand was up and casting the body-binding curse.

"Rem-" the impostor called, but was cut off by the spell sealing his mouth shut.

Feeling as if the body-bind had been cast on himself, Remus struggled to emerge from shock and get his limbs working again. Once he'd gained control of himself, the werewolf levitated the body down to the kitchen and relaxed the spell just long enough to tie the body to a chair with impenetrable ropes that burst from his wand.

As his spell relaxed, the impostor had the chance to cry out, "Moony, it's me, really, it's Padfoot - "

Remus silenced him with a spell, growling out, "How dare you say those names!"

Unwilling to leave a likely Death Eater alone in the house, Remus raised his wand again and Padfoot the dog burst forth and shot upstairs, alerting Arthur and Molly Weasley. He felt a twinge at seeing the hulking dog in the current circumstances. He decided to leave Anna out of this, and Harry too; the least people hurt by Voldemort's games the better. As he waited, Remus cast a number of spells designed to remove glamours over the impostor but he remained the same.

"Polyjuice Potion, then," he muttered, "Well, that won't last forever."

Arthur and Molly entered the kitchen in a rush.

"Remus what – oh Merlin." Arthur and Molly stopped in their tracks when they saw the bound fake-Sirius sitting in the kitchen.

"He walked into the house just a few minutes ago. Lucky I was awake," the werewolf shook his head, "Imagine what could've happened if he'd made it to Harry!"

"How?" Molly asked.

"Polyjuice, I should think."

Arthur nodded. "Unsilence him, Remus. We should question him. Are you sure Anna shouldn't be here?"

Remus nodded, "I'm sure." He waved his wand at the Death Eater.

"Remus, Remus, it's me! I swear, I just fell out of the Veil in the Department of Mysteries not thirty minutes ago. Honestly, tell me how to convince you! I'm Sirius!"

"Sirius Black is dead," Remus replied harshly. "He died seven months ago. You won't fool us."

"Can't you smell me, Remus?" he pushed. "Don't I smell like I always did?"

Molly and Arthur looked at Remus curiously.

"Polyjuice Potion affects the scent of a person as well as their looks," he countered.

"Perhaps we should contact Albus," Arthur said, "And use Veritaserum on this man."

"Yes! Do!" Sirius said, "And then I can prove it's really me! Or let me change into Padfoot; Polyjuice can't mimic animagus transformations."

"We're not stupid enough to let you out of those constraints," Remus laughed darkly.

"Then get Anna," Sirius said firmly, "She'll know it's me."

Remus was almost a touch hurt. "Why would she know Sirius better than I?"

"Don't be stupid, Moony," Sirius scoffed, "She's an Empath, she can sense dishonesty."

"She could use Legilimency on him too," Molly supplied. "Remus, we might have to."

His shoulders slumped, he really hadn't wanted to involve Anna in this mess.

"I'll go and wake her," he sighed. "Keep a sharp eye on him," he told the Weasleys, pointing his wand at the impostor.

When Remus entered Anna's room, she was slumbering peacefully, her face turned toward the opposite side of the bed, where he imagined Sirius once slept. Sitting beside her, Remus gave her shoulder a gentle shake.

"Anna, wake up."

She did so slowly, stretching her arms above her head and smiling at him through a yawn.

"Merlin Remus what time is it?" The more she woke, the more she could tell something was seriously wrong. "What's happened?"

"Someone – a Death Eater – entered the house this morning."

Anna shot out of bed and pulled her dressing gown over her, grasping her wand tightly. "Who? Did you catch them? Did they get to Harry?"

"I stopped them before they could get past the foyer. He's downstairs now, with Arthur and Molly. We need your help interrogating him."

"Of course."

She was at the door when she realised Remus wasn't following.

"There's more." His tone of voice made her frown, scared at what could make him so pained. "The Death Eater is Polyjuiced… to look like Sirius."

It felt like her stomach had dropped away from her. She felt she might be sick.

"He's insisting he's Sirius. I didn't want to involve you, Anna, but I didn't see another option."

"No, no, you did the right thing," she replied vaguely. "Harry?"

"Will hopefully be sleeping for another few hours."

"We have to get him out of the house before Harry wakes up," Anna said, uncertainty still in her eyes. "Let's go."

Anna tried her best to focus as they descended the stairs, she needed to be completely aware of everything in order to figure out what was going on. She had to reign in her anger, as well. The callousness, the absolute cruelty of Lord Voldemort still managed to stun her somehow.

As soon as she walked into the kitchen, however, everything changed.

During their time together and considering the intimacy they'd shared, Anna felt she knew Sirius better than she'd ever known or could ever know anyone else. Wizards could use any number of glamours, could use Polyjuice and cast spells to change their appearance, but nothing could change a person's soul. And Anna looked right into the heart of the man sitting, bound by ropes in the dusty old kitchen, and knew instantly that it was Sirius.

She raised her wand and the ropes binding him fell away. Sirius bound out of his chair and leapt over to Anna, who he took up in his arms and crushed to himself. She couldn't hold back a sob and the sound broke the utter silence of the room. Tearing herself away from him was the hardest thing she'd done, but she managed.

"Change," she told him, half-crying. "They're still not sure it's you."

Nodding, Sirius morphed into Padfoot and gave Anna's hand a quick lick before morphing back.

"Sirius…" Remus breathed, and grabbed the other man to him. "I'm so sorry," he said, his voice muffled, "I thought…"

"It doesn't matter," Sirius reassured him, patting his back as he spoke, "You couldn't have known."

Anna sobbed again and both Sirius and Remus threw out an arm for her. She stumbled into their embrace. It didn't take long for the other two to join Anna in crying. Soon, Molly was sobbing into her husband's nightshirt and Anna laughed.

"Come over here!"

Their group hug lasted a few more minutes until Sirius suddenly realised someone terribly important was missing and shouted, "Harry!"

He was almost at the stairs when Remus and Anna's shouts of, "Wait!" stopped him.

"You can't just go bounding up there, Sirius," Remus said. "You'll frighten the poor boy to death. Let us go up first, introduce him to the idea."

"Really?" Sirius moaned, a pout on his lips that almost made Anna cry again.

"Yes, really," she said, "We won't be long, I promise."

They were quiet on the way upstairs, careful not to wake the other kids. In Harry's room they quickly woke the boy up and beckoned him out, into

Remus' because it was closer.

"What's up guys?" he yawned.

"We didn't want to wake Ron up," Remus told him. "Sit down, Harry."

The Gryffindor complied, perching on the edge of the bed. Remus and Anna sat down on either side of him.

"Something's happened, Harry," Remus begun, whilst Anna kept the three of them calm, "Someone came into Headquarters this morning. We thought it was a Death Eater but it's not. We're absolutely sure it's not, Harry, do you understand?"

He nodded, confused.

"If we weren't sure we wouldn't be telling you at all, Harry," Anna told him.

"Well, who is it?" Harry asked.

Remus took in a breath and looked at Anna, then back at Harry. "Harry, it's Sirius. Sirius is back."

After a stunned silence, Harry stood and faced them both angrily.

"Do you think that's funny? Some kind of joke?"

"No, Harry please listen," Remus placated, holding his hands out. "Do you really think we'd do that?"

Harry thought for a moment and finally his face relaxed a fraction.

"No, but I can't believe he's back."

Anna knew why. Despite himself, a thread of pure golden hope was spreading through him, and Harry knew he couldn't take being disappointed this way again. It _had _to be Sirius downstairs, or Harry would break.

"Just come downstairs, Harry," Anna said quietly. "That's all you have to do."

Sirius' back had been facing the kitchen entrance when Harry had pushed the door open with shaking fingers, Anna and Remus silent behind him. But as soon as Sirius heard the creak of the old door, he turned and looked at his godson.

Harry looked thinner, wanner than he remembered – but then, everybody seemed to look worse for wear – and his green eyes, dull, began to shine with tears.

"You died," he said softly, almost too soft for anyone to hear. "You fell. I saw you." Sirius said nothing, just took two long strides towards his godson. Harry's voice was louder now, "It really is you?"

Sirius nodded and the boy walked – almost fell – into the older man's arms, crying.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave you."

"It's okay," Harry mumbled into Sirius, "Just try not to do it again, please."

Sirius let out a half-laugh, half-sob and pressed a kiss into Harry's unruly hair. Watching the reunion, Anna felt more tears of her own slide down her face. Surprised she had any left, Anna used her thumbs to wipe them away and shared a grin with Sirius over Harry's head.

Everything would be okay now. Sirius was home.

* * *

What did you think?! Please review!


	12. Ordinary Wings

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N:** Thanks for all your reviews, I'm glad you enjoyed Sirius's homecoming, I did too!

**Summary:** A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Eleven: 

_No ordinary wings I'll need – _

_The sky itself will carry me back to you._

­_One Sweet Love_, Sara Bareilles

It didn't take long to alert the Order of Sirius' miraculous return. Once they'd deemed it was a reasonable enough time, Remus had poked his head into the fireplace and Floo-called the Headmaster. Three seconds later, Professor Dumbledore was stepping through the fire, still in his nightrobes, and Professor McGonagall followed soon after. Minerva had surreptiously wiped tears from her eyes as she embraced one of her favourite – if most mischievous – students. Dumbledore got the word out, and all day Order members would pop in to see Sirius for himself and welcome him back. Tonks had managed to knock down seven things in her rush to hug him.

Sometime in the morning, still early by his standards, Harry had suddenly jumped and realised Hermione and Ron had no idea what'd occurred overnight. He jumped up, prepared to run upstairs, but the sight of Sirius stopped him.

"It's alright, kid," Sirius reassured him, "I'll be here when you come back."

Harry's answering smile was dazzling; it caused Anna to wonder where he'd hidden it in the last seven months.

It didn't take long for Harry to wake his friends up, and judging by the huge amount of noise coming from upstairs, he hadn't bothered to use as much tact as Remus and Anna had – if he used any at all. Soon, the thundering of three pairs of feet on old wooden stairs assaulted their ears and Sirius stood, waiting.

The door burst open and Ron and Hermione stood breathless under the archway, with Harry bobbing up and down behind them, grinning from ear to ear.

"Sirius!" Hermione squeaked.

The Marauder opened his arms wide and Hermione didn't hesitate, running straight into them. Ron followed soon after and Harry, seeing another opportunity arise, gleefully followed their example.

The sight had Anna's eyes tearing again.

"Merlin!" she cursed, "I'm leaking again! I can hardly stop it!"

Remus laughed and squeezed her hand. It was almost an emotional overload for her, so many people feeling so many overwhelming emotions at once was making her a bit giddy. With a pang, she realised the last time she'd suffered this kind of strain was when Sirius had died.

The thing was, they were really still a bit foggy on whether that had actually happened at all.

Once the kids had gotten over their initial excitement, the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place settled into some sort of serious discussion.

"So what actually happened to you?"

Sirius shrugged. "Honestly, I don't really know. I remember Bellatrix firing that spell at me and I remember slipping backwards. After that it's all really a bit of a blur. I think I fell for a very long time. A lot of it's jumbled, I remember lots of memories, like my life was flashing before my eyes – " there were a few snorts at the cliché " – and then… I think I remember James."

"My dad?" Harry asked sharply.

Sirius smiled. "Yeah. I don't know, maybe it was just a dream or something." Sirius was pensive for a moment, but then shook himself out of it. "And then I fell out of the Veil and came here. That's about it, really."

Hermione sucked in a deep breath, as if about to begin a long spiel, but let it out awkwardly as everyone turned to face her.

"It's alright, Hermione," Sirius grinned, "Go ahead."

She drew in another deep breath and exhaled in a rush of words. "I don't think this has ever happened before! After you – ah – died, I did a bit of research on the Veil and apparently in medieval times it was used to execute criminals; they'd be lined up and walked through. The practice was stopped because they felt it cruel; no one really knew for sure where they were sending people. Was it hell? Was it limbo? Or maybe even another dimension? But never did I find anything about people coming _out_. It's impossible!"

"Oh, I like impossible," Sirius said ruefully.

"Perhaps," Remus mused thoughtfully, "If the Veil was previously only used to execute criminals, the entrance of a good, innocent man such as Sirius was wrong somehow, and that's why he's here now."

Those at the table pondered this in silence, until Harry suddenly jumped up from his chair.

"Speaking of innocence; Sirius, you're free!"

Sirius quickly joined Harry in standing. "What?"

"They caught Wormtail during the raid on Azkaban, he's serving thirteen life sentences now."

"Wait there was a raid on Azkaban?"

"Yeah!" the Weasley twins piped up, "And Harry made this wicked patronus; it actually killed the Dementors!"

"And then we took a block off of Harry's magic and now he can do stuff wandlessly!" Ron contributed.

"Wandless magic…" Sirius muttered, and then his confusion turned to consternation. "Wait, Harry was at a raid on Azkaban!?"

The young Gryffindor shrugged sheepishly.

"He sits in on Order meetings, too," Remus said with a grin.

Sirius took a deep breath.

"Start from the beginning, please."

_**-------------------------**_

It took a while to tell Sirius everything that had occurred in the months he had missed. By the time everything had been explained, they realised that it was almost midday and nobody had showered or dressed yet. Predictably, this caused a stampede of feet to all available bathrooms, leaving Harry, Remus, Anna and Sirius to wait it out.

Sirius sighed. "I've sure missed a lot."

Harry shrugged, the grin on his face seemed to be a permanent fixture. "It doesn't matter, you're here now."

Anna bit back a smile. Honestly, she was half expecting Harry to climb into his godfather's lap and never let go. Come to think of it, it really wasn't such a bad idea, she'd be sure to do that later.

"How long til you're due back at school, kid?"

"Only two weeks," he replied with a pout.

Sirius ruffled his hair. "Not to worry, Harry. We'll make sure we visit a lot. I'm free now, I can take you to Hogsmeade!" A thoughtful expression – coloured with happiness – came over his face, "Free… I'd begun to think that would never happen."

Anna, sitting beside Sirius, took his hand up in hers, resting them both in her lap. He looked at her and with his free hand looped some of her hair around his finger and gave a gentle tug.

"You all need to sleep more! And eat more," he scolded, unintentionally channelling Molly Weasley. "Everybody looks a little worse-for-wear."

"It's been hard," Remus said quietly, and Sirius did not miss the glances Harry and Remus both threw Anna's way.

His brow furrowed, examining Anna. "Did something else happen?"

After a very brief moment she shook her head. "No. We just missed you very much."

Harry took Sirius' other hand and repeated, "Very much."

_**-------------------------**_

Eventually, they moved from the kitchen into the more comfortable living room. Here, Harry demonstrated to Sirius all that he'd been learning with Professor Dumbledore. This demonstration was similar to the one he'd performed for Remus, only Harry pushed himself a little harder to make it a little more spectacular. He'd had a headache afterwards, but the wide grin on his godfather's face had made it worth it.

His headache didn't last long anyway. As soon as Anna noticed, she beckoned him over and he let her fingers rest at his temples, gently rubbing them for a moment. His headache melted away. When they'd gotten to the more complicated parts of learning Occlumency, Harry had been plagued by headaches – just as he had been when Snape taught him – but then Anna had shown him this little bit of magic she could perform with ease and they faded away.

Straightening, Harry thanked Anna with a smile. She responded with a squeeze of his arm and Harry dropped to the floor of the living room, resting his back against the couch between Sirius' legs. Sirius, who'd been watching this simple exchange, felt his heart warm at the apparent closeness that had grown in his absence between his godson and the woman he loved.

They stayed up late into the night. The Weasleys trickled out of the room as the hour grew later, Ginny pulling Ron and Hermione along with her, knowing that Remus, Anna and certainly Harry would enjoy some time alone.

Anna nodded off to sleep some time around midnight, her cheek resting on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius decided shortly after that it was bedtime and nudged his godson, carefully detangling himself from Anna so as not to wake her. With his hand on Harry's shoulder, they walked quietly to the boy's room. Pausing at his door, Sirius turned Harry around to face him.

"I'm going to go to the Ministry tomorrow. I'm going to petition to become your legal guardian."

Harry didn't need to say anything, just crushed himself to his godfather as he'd been doing all day. Sirius softly wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders. They all seemed so damaged. Sirius knew of course that his sudden death would've affected them, but more than half a year later he imagined some recovery would've begun. Examining his family, however, Sirius knew they'd been a long way from it before his unexpected reappearance. Perhaps he had underestimated his importance in these peoples' lives. But as he guided his godson into his bed and switched off the light, Sirius promised himself that just as Harry, Remus and Anna had helped to rebuild his life after Azkaban, so too would he do all that he could to fix the damage he had caused.

Remus stood up as he entered the living room.

"Goodnight, Moony."

"Goodnight, Padfoot."

They shared a hug and as Remus was leaving the room, Sirius gently lifted Anna into his arms. Their room was mostly unchanged. He lay her down on the bed and carefully removed her clothes. Opening the top drawer of her bedside table to retrieve her nightclothes, Sirius smiled sadly when he saw what it was; an overlarge blue shirt, one of his. He put it away; she didn't need it anymore now that he was back.

Swiftly changing himself, Sirius tucked her under the covers and jumped in himself. He pulled her close to him, and she woke a little.

"Sirius," she murmured. "You're real."

"Yes, I'm really here, Annie."

She smiled; it'd been a while since someone had called her that, seven months in fact.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

_**-------------------------**_

Sirius didn't anticipate any problems in being granted guardianship of Harry. He had, after all, been wrongly accused and imprisoned without trial for twelve years. Reason would dictate that the Ministry would be happy to bend over backwards for him.

Remus agreed. "The news of your innocence came just as some truly disturbing stories about Fudge were surfacing. There was a public outcry that you'd been imprisoned, especially when Dumbledore told the papers that your innocence had been spoken of to Fudge and he'd ignored it. Support for Amelia Bones is a lot stronger but she still needs some kind of windfall for the public."

"Bones was always a fair woman," Sirius replied, pulling his coat on. "I'll see you in a bit, kid." Sirius squeezed Harry's shoulder, pecked Anna on the cheek and swiftly walked out the door, eager to get the day's job done. He Apparated with a sharp crack and was soon inside the Ministry. It took a moment for Sirius to beat down the urge to run and hide; surely the remnants of being a fugitive of the law. But Sirius straightened his back and lifted his head, determined to make the most of this first walk of freedom in so many years.

Walking through the Atrium, Sirius knew a few people were recognising him. Though he looked nothing like the deranged psychopath featured in those damned WANTED! posters, his face was famous enough to have attracted some attention.

"Sirius Black, I'm here to see the Minister."

Sirius handed his wand – retrieved from the Department of Mysteries by Remus – to the flustered security guard and was soon told to proceed.

Outside the Minister's office was a young receptionist. As he walked in, she raised her eyes and gasped.

"Hi, I'm Sirius Black,"

"Uh… um… do you have an appointment?" she blurted.

Sirius shook his head. "No, but I think she'll see me anyway."

"Um…" the young lady tapped an ornament on her desk with her wand.

"Yes, Rebecca?" came the voice of Amelia Bones.

"Um… Minister Bones, Sirius Black is here to see you."

There was a short pause. "Send him in."

Sirius nodded at the lady and pushed open a wide set of doors.

"Sirius Black," Amelia Bones greeted, standing to meet him. "I was told you were dead."

"A miracle," he replied. "Congratulations on winning the vote."

"Thank you," she said, sitting down. "Please, take a seat. Now, should I assume you're here to discuss restitution payments?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't want any money. The Black family has enough of that. What I want is worth more than galleons."

Bones frowned but gestured for him to continue.

"Legal guardianship of Harry Potter."

"Albus Dumbledore…"

"Has no grounds to decide where Harry goes. I'm his godfather; his parents named me his guardian in the case of something happening to them. It's in the will. Now that I'm able to, I'd like to give him a family."

Amelia nodded. "It's a very reasonable request." Tapping the copy of the intercom device on her receptionist's desk, Amelia raised her voice a bit, "Rebecca?"

"Yes Minister?"

"Please have someone from the Department of Family Services come to my office, as quickly as they can."

When all the necessary forms had been filled out and signed, Bones turned to Sirius.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Black?"

"Uh, yes," he replied. "I'd also like to register as an Animagus. I'm a big black dog, rather like a grim."

Scribbling this down, Minister Bones gave a wry smile.

"Are you sure we can't offer you any kind of payments?" she asked again as they were shaking hands.

Sirius backed towards the door.

"Put it towards the war effort… and Amelia, don't let this happen again."

She nodded grimly. "You have my word on that, Sirius."

Out on the streets of Muggle London, Sirius had his wand out and was ready to Apparate when an idea struck him. Tucking his wand away, Sirius turned and lost himself in the crowd. There was something else to take care of today.

_**-------------------------**_

When Sirius arrived back at Grimmauld Place, the delicious smells coming from the kitchen told him that lunch must be just about ready. Reaching the kitchen, he smiled at the sight. Anna was leaning over a large saucepan, stirring what smelt like pumpkin soup, and Remus was carving a huge loaf of bread into slices.

"Sirius!" Anna exclaimed with surprise. "Did everything go well at the Ministry?"

He nodded, moving towards her and placing a hand on her hip. She dipped the ladle into the saucepan and lifted it to her face, blowing on the thick, orange soup.

"Here."

Sirius leant forward and sipped from the spoon. "Yum," he said with a smile, squeezing her gently. "Is Harry upstairs?"

"Yep, would you let them know lunch is ready?"

Sirius nodded and dropped a kiss on her shoulder before bounding up the stairs.

"Lunch is ready, kids," Sirius said, tapping on the door of the living room.

"Great, come on, Ron, Hermione."

Sirius shook her head as Ginny herded her brother and friend out of the room; she seemed to show tact and understanding beyond her years.

Harry stood and walked over to Sirius, his face apprehensive.

"Well? How did it go?"

Sirius grinned.

"Say hello to your legal guardian."

Harry whooped and forcefully embraced Sirius.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, the shout muffled by Sirius's shirt.

Sirius put his arms around his godson and smiled. When they broke apart, he took Harry's shoulders in his hands.

"I love you, you know that, right Harry?"

The young Gryffindor nodded and looked down. His eyes were wet.

"Hey, hey," Sirius said, concerned, "Come here."

He pulled the boy into his arms. Harry's shoulders shook.

"What's wrong?"

Harry looked up at him.

"Nothing. You're just the first person to say that to me."

Sirius's face softened and he slung an arm around Harry.

"Your father was the first person to say it to me."

"Really?" Harry's deep emerald eyes looked to Sirius, who nodded.

"Yep. Of course, we were both pretty young at the time and were a bit embarrassed, pretended it'd never happened," he said with a chuckle.

Harry laughed softly and wiped the pad of his thumb under his eyes. "Yeah, I can see why you would be embarrassed."

"Don't be," Sirius said firmly. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. The Dursleys were awful people. I wish… I wish things had been different, that I'd got to say that to you sooner."

Harry shrugged.

"Doesn't matter now, legal guardian."

Sirius grinned.

"Come on, I'm hungry and that soup is delicious. Let's go down."

Later that night, as Harry pulled his shoes off and sat down on his mattress, he noticed a small crystal vial on his bedside table. A note was attached.

"_I'm not really the first person to say that._

_Padfoot.'_

Harry moved to his closet, from where he pulled the stone basin that Sirius – through Remus – had given to Harry for his birthday. He uncorked the vial and poured the thick liquid into the Pensive. With a deep breath, Harry plunged in.

_**-------------------------**_

He was in a hospital; St. Mungo's, to be more exact. Remus and Peter Pettigrew were sitting, mostly calm, on uncomfortable looking chairs. Sirius was pacing anxiously, up down, up down, up down. Harry looked up at the clock on the wall; it was four o'clock in the morning.

Suddenly, the unmistakeable figure of his father burst out of a nearby door. Sirius's neck snapped around.

"It's a boy!" his father shouted, and it felt as if Harry's stomach was full of butterflies as he realised which memory Sirius had left by his bed. "It's a boy!"

Sirius raced over and pulled James into a fierce hug. "Congratulations!"

A weak, feminine voice drifted out into the hallway.

"Sirius, come in."

James ushered his best friend into the room and Harry followed close behind them. His mother was lying on a hospital bed. She looked exhausted, her crimson hair was sweaty and pushed back of her face, and her emerald eyes were tired but shining with happiness. There was a small bundle in her arms.

"Come and meet Harry," she said to Sirius, and reached a hand out to her husband. James moved beside her, placed his arm around her shoulders and looked down at the bundle. Sirius moved closer, as did Harry, and looked upon the tiny face of the newly-born Harry Potter.

"Oh, Prongs, Lily, he's beautiful."

"He's perfect," James said quietly, tracing a finger over the tiny cheek of his baby. Baby Harry's eyes opened blearily and looked up into the face of his father.

Sirius gasped. "He's got your eyes, Lily."

She smiled. "I think he looks just like his father."

"Sirius."

Sirius glanced up at James.

"Godfather?"

Sirius grinned, overwhelmed. "Of course! Of course. I'd do anything for the little kid, got to make sure he grows up into a right and proper trouble-maker. A second generation Marauder!"

Lily scowled, but only playfully. As she looked back down at her sleeping babe she smiled, and tears filled her eyes.

"We love you, Harry," she said softly, and James pressed a kiss to her temple, brushing her hair back. "We love you so much."

"Yes we do," James said, his own smile brightening his features.

The edges of the scene began to fade, and Harry felt himself get tugged back into Grimmauld Place.

"Merlin, you startled me, Harry," said Ron, who was changing into his pyjamas. "Hey, are you alright?"

Harry's smile was resplendent. "Yeah, I'm perfect.


End file.
